Mine
by Jelp
Summary: There are some things Sakura would not expect to come home to... SasuNaru
1. Chapter 1: Secret Passions

I don't own Naruto, and I make no money from writing this fic.

**PLEASE NOTE:** This contains some heavy things to do with non-consensual/dub-con/mind control. Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with these situations.

**Mine **

**Chapter 1: Secret Passions**

When Sakura had agreed to marry Naruto, she had done so only because she had finally realized that Sasuke would never love her the same way that she loved him. That was NOT to say that she did not love Naruto. In fact, she loved him a lot. He had always been there for her, and he made her feel special. There had just been something whimsical about marrying her first crush, the one whom she had first fallen in love with, which is why she had waited for Sasuke for so long. Of course, as a young girl, initially it hadn't mattered that he was clearly not interested in her because she foolishly thought that she could change his mind. So, once she had gotten older and finally matured, she realized the error of her ways.

Sasuke had been back from Sound for over three years now. After she had learned that he had been semi-faithful to Konoha, not fully obeying Orochimaru, nor ever killing other than had been necessary for his survival, she had felt that somehow, Sasuke would be okay. And he had been - after a devastating first month.

Sakura was never quite sure exactly what had happened, but to anyone who knew Sasuke, it was clear that Sasuke's return home had made him deeply depressed. People "welcomed" Sasuke back to Konoha in any number of ways. Some claimed that it was not truly his fault for leaving in the first place, surely he must have been under Orochimaru's control, and that since he'd had such a traumatic past, as long as he underwent therapy, he would be allowed to stay. However, the other part believed him a traitor and that he should be stripped of his ninja ranking, banished, or even killed. Thus, it was really no surprise that Sasuke's return home had been strenuous on him.

When the cold look in Sasuke's eyes had finally begun to melt ever so slowly, replaced with the look of someone who had no purpose in life, everyone began worrying about whether or not he would physically harm himself – or someone else. He had finally killed Itachi, so now what did he have left in his life? The struggle to determine his purpose was clear. Even worse, Sasuke had had nowhere to go other than back to the hauntingly empty Uchiha compound. He couldn't even go on missions to distract him since he was put on probation for six months. He had trained for the first three weeks upon returning, but always by himself. He had not once accepted Sakura's, Lee's, Ino's, Kakashi's, or even Naruto's attempts to at least train with him so he would not be alone in a place filled with so many bitter memories.

At the end of the first three weeks, Sasuke had completely locked himself up within the Uchiha compound. No one had seen him for over five days, but Naruto had finally had enough of worrying about the Uchiha. Sakura clearly remembered when Naruto had decided to bring Sasuke out of his self-confinement. They had been eating together, slurping away noodles at Ichiraku when Naruto had left in the middle of ramen to go get Sasuke. She still remembered their conversation.

"I feel like Sasuke still isn't even back," she had muttered. Naruto turned to look at her, and Sakura wondered if it had been because of what she said, or if he had honestly wanted to try and de-funk Sasuke out of his mood (probably a little of both), but Naruto had merely muttered "this isn't right," before storming off from Ichiraku's. He then returned with a ruffled Sasuke nearly two hours later, both looking beat up – cuts and bruises covered their bodies, and Naruto even had a little bit of blood on the side of his head.

They looked exhausted. But Sasuke had been smiling. Sakura clearly remembered as Sasuke sat down on the other side of Naruto, the genuine smile. Sasuke's genuine smiles were always very small, but they made a drastic change in his face. Sasuke smiling meant that he wasn't brooding, and he looked much better that way.

"Hello Sasuke-kun," Sakura said happily. Sasuke nodded at her politely. After that day, things had seemed much better for Sasuke. Yet Sakura had never managed to get very close to Sasuke after that. He seemed to have abandoned his idea of restoring his clan, and therefore all attempts any female had made to get his attention had failed, and when she realized that, Sakura finally gave up her pursuit of her former genin teammate. Several months later she had agreed to go out with Naruto, much to his delight.

Within a year and a half of first going out, they were married. It had been wonderful from the beginning. Naruto treated her like a princess, and she was truly happy with him. Everyone seemed supportive of their relationship, and she had been extremely happy to see that once she had begun living with Naruto, she even got to see a lot more of Sasuke. A small part of her would always love him, but she had moved on. Still, it was nice to have him as a friend now.

So when Sakura came home early from a mission one evening to find Sasuke's sandals by the door, it hadn't surprised her in the least – but something else sure as hell had.

As Sakura removed her sandals, placing them next to Sasuke's and Naruto's, she noticed how dark their small home was. She checked the living room, kitchen, study, and even bathroom, but didn't see them. She didn't know why they would be in the bedroom, but as it was the only room she had yet to check, Sakura opened the door to look for them -

And stopped dead.

On her bed she saw the naked bodies of her husband and her former love pressed intimately together. Naruto was on all fours, his body arched back against Sasuke's who was on top of him, Sasuke's body pressing flushed against Naruto's. Sasuke's body seemed to glide as he slid his manhood in and out of Naruto's ass, his left arm pressed against Naruto's bare chest, his hand gripping Naruto's left shoulder as leverage to press himself deeper into Naruto as he thrust against him, Sasuke's right hand meanwhile pumping Naruto's cock.

Their bodies glistened with sweat from their intense lovemaking making their bodies slicker and easier to glide against each other. Naruto's eyes were closed, but the way he grunted with each of Sasuke's thrusts, the way his mouth hung open ever so slightly, let Sakura know that his eyes would be even more lust-filled than she knew she had ever seen them.

Sasuke looked at peace. He wasn't moaning, but his lips seemed to form a silent scream of pleasure as he began increasing his speed. Whatever lotion they used was clearly very slick, and Naruto's entrance was clearly spread open, probably from long foreplay, long lovemaking, or from constant exposure to this kind of pleasure. Sakura suspected a bit of all three. Naruto's grunts grew louder as Sasuke seemed to drive himself deeper within Naruto, obviously hitting Naruto's prostate as the blond shinobi grunted in time with Sasuke's thrusts. Watching the speed and grace with which they moved together made them look as though they were dancing.

Still, Sasuke growled in frustration, as though he was still not close enough, not deep enough, and his peaceful face was replaced with one of feral lust and desire. He forced Naruto's legs to move farther apart as he snaked his feet to press against Naruto's legs, forcing them to spread open even further still. He forced Naruto's body to fall forward, and Sasuke fell with him, pressing deeper inside of his lover. Sasuke moved his hand from Naruto's cock and wrapped it around Naruto's chest, gripping his hand to mirror the other one on his shoulder, and drove himself deeper. He began almost forcing Naruto's body into the bed, each thrust violently hard and slick, their bodies glistening with perspiration.

Naruto began to buck back against Sasuke even harder, wanting it deeper. It seemed that no matter how deep Sasuke went, it was never deep enough for either.

"Naruto!" Sasuke's half scream finally escaped as he came, the force of his orgasm making him slam harder into Naruto, but Naruto didn't seem ready to come yet, and Sasuke's hand slid back down to Naruto's manhood and began to pump him harder and more furiously even as Sasuke's own body shook with the remnants of his orgasm. Naruto let out a final grunt, and his seed spilled onto the sheets and Sasuke's hands, his body shuddering violently in a way no orgasm Sakura had ever been able to give Naruto. Sakura had never been half that close to making Naruto come so hard and for so long as he did now.

When Naruto's eyes finally opened, Sakura noticed that they looked glazed over - but not the normal kind of glaze left from passion. His eyes looked like when Sasuke put someone under a deep genjutsu. Sakura looked quickly at Sasuke's eyes, and sure enough, they were swirled red. With a jolt, Sakura realized she could see how red his eyes were because he was staring _straight at her_.

"Enjoying the show?" Sasuke asked, pulling himself out of Naruto, his seed coming out as well. Naruto, for his part, almost seemed like a doll. Sasuke slowly moved Naruto to the side, lying his body down, away from the wetness of his cum.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, hesitantly, but, as she expected, he did not respond, lost in a reality that was purely controlled by Sasuke. Sakura was rooted to the spot as she watched – and allowed – Sasuke to clean up her husband, wet towels, prepared to wipe off the evidence of their lovemaking, even a set of identical sheets pre-folded and washed. Sasuke had clearly done this before. Sakura watched in dazed bemusement as Sasuke helped Naruto roll off of the bed so he could change the sheets. Sasuke seemed so cool, calm and collected, totally unconcerned that she stood there watching as he tended to the signs of his infidelity, or perhaps trying to hide it from Naruto himself. Sasuke made the bed, and laid Naruto back down, almost mechanically, as his eyes fluttered closed, and his body went limp, implying the genjutsu had been removed, Naruto laying in a forced sleep on the bed.

"So now you know," was all Sasuke said as he proceeded to dress himself.

"How long?" Sakura croaked out. "How long have you been forcing him?" The unsaid question hung in the air. Was it ever willing? Had Naruto ever cheated on her?

"Don't worry," Sasuke said, his face a mask, as he stood before her half clothed, "He has never known what I do to him, so he has never cheated on you. As for how long, since the night after he dragged me out of my self isolation about three years ago."

"So you've been raping him for three years?" Sakura bit out.

"You did not seem so concerned before. His body clearly enjoys it," Sasuke taunted. He turned to face her; a strange emotion flickered in his eyes before vanishing instantly. "You may think he is yours, but you will never have him the same way I do. He will always belong to me, no matter what that golden ring on your finger might imply," Sasuke murmured, as he finished putting on the rest of his clothes, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Sakura looked at the bed where her husband lay, asleep until she decided to wake him up, completely unaware of his best friend's constant sexual abuse of him, the sharingan being too effective to allow Naruto to clearly understand his friend's betrayal. She looked at Naruto, the way his naked body glistened, the sweat making the sheets stick to his sides, and the utter look of peace that settled on his face. He turned onto his side as he slept, a half smile on his face.

Sakura had never felt anything as heartbreaking as watching the man she once loved force himself into her husband, watching the blond with a look of ecstasy she knew she had never made him feel, and the look on Sasuke's face as he found momentary peace sated deep inside of Naruto...She had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

Nor had she ever felt more in love now with her husband, her Naruto, than she ever had any other man before.

"His body may belong to you, but his heart belongs to me," Sakura said. Sasuke seemed to go rigid.

"Perhaps. But his body is all I am willing to force from him," and with that, Sasuke left the room. Sakura shook her head, willing the erotic image to pass from her mind. Even despite the situation, her body had responded to the erotic scene in front of her.

Sakura sat on the bed next to her husband, and began to stroke Naruto's hair, knowing that Sasuke's departing words were an underlying declaration of love for his best friend. She wanted to be angry, but she did not feel as though anyone had truly betrayed her. It was by no fault of Naruto's - he was never good at genjutsu - and Sasuke seemed so pathetic. Sakura clearly remembered the look in Sasuke's eyes of being totally lost when he realized he had no more goals, and Naruto seemed to be his only purpose for living. His desire to resurrect his clan must have been forgotten in his lust for his friend.

"Hello Sakura-chan," Naruto said sleepily as he woke ten minutes later, Sakura still stroking his hair. His face contorted into an expression of worry at the look he saw on his wife's face. "What's the matter?" Naruto asked concerned.

"Nothing. Your heart's mine, right?" Sakura wondered aloud. Naruto looked at her confused, but grinned broadly.

"Awww, you're not upset because Ino said my butt looked cute yesterday morning, are you? Of course my heart is yours!" Sakura smiled. No, she wouldn't tell Naruto about Sasuke. As long as his heart belonged to her, that was all that mattered.

* * *

Next Chapter: Twisted Secrets

This can be read as a one-shot, but if you want more, feel free to continue to chapter two. - Jelp

Special thanks to ArtDuncan for noting my physiological error.


	2. Chapter 2: Twisted Secrets

**Mine**

**Chapter 2: Twisted Secrets**

"Morning Sakura-chaaaaaan!" Naruto greeted happily as he came down to breakfast the next morning. Sakura flashed a forced smile at her husband. She had hardly been able to sleep the night before, the crashing reality that her husband was being raped by his best friend weighing down on her. She sipped her coffee as Naruto busied himself around the kitchen, making his early morning bowl of ramen. Sakura just sat staring at her husband as though looking at a fragile being.

_Three years._

Sakura shook her head. How could she not have noticed for three years? How could no one have noticed for three long years? Even looking back on it now, it still flabbergasted her. Maybe it didn't happen often? Maybe it was only a once in a while thing? Maybe only once a year? Though somehow she doubted that. Obviously Sasuke would have had plenty of time in the beginning during his six-month probation to force himself on Naruto. Naruto had visited him all the time then. Come to think of it, Sasuke had only really let Naruto visit him.

Yet what about when Naruto and she had married? Even though Naruto had gone on plenty of over night missions, Sakura always stayed within the village helping out at the hospital. She was always home when Naruto was. Sakura rarely ever had missions outside the village. The mission she had gone on yesterday had been her first in months, and normally she wasn't gone for very long; she had even gotten back two hours earlier than expected - only to find her once perfect little world not so perfect.

Sakura's musing stopped abruptly as a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Ohayo," Sasuke greeted as he walked into their kitchen. Sakura's body went rigid, but she relaxed it, willing for herself to act as though nothing were wrong. Sasuke often came over for breakfast, and if Sakura was going to act like nothing was going on, she couldn't react to Sasuke's presence. He was often there at their house. But Sakura was always there too. Did that mean that Sasuke had been doing this right under her nose the entire time?

Sakura could not look at Sasuke, feeling as though an intruder had walked into her home. She wanted to reach out and smack him, or even put her body in between his and Naruto's to protect her husband from his rapist, but moving like that would look too strange. She wanted Sasuke to leave, to feel pain, to know how much he had hurt her, but she couldn't. If Naruto found out, the pain he would suffer would be far greater than her own. She would grit her teeth and keep the secret as long as Naruto never had to feel that pain. Though what if Sasuke still refused to stop going after Naruto?

"Ohayo," Sakura nodded back, swallowing the bile that had risen in her throat at that terrible thought, her eyes looking anywhere but at Sasuke.

"Good morning Sasuke!" Naruto chirped, still running around the kitchen getting his ramen ready. Sasuke sat down opposite Sakura, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he watched Naruto running around, pulling out the oddest assortment of foods and flavorings to add to his ramen.

"I hear you got assigned that escort mission to Wave Country," Sasuke said as Naruto finally sat down between Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto nodded, giving a "yeah" through a mouthful of ramen. He had swallowed what looked like half the bowl already.

"Gonna be there for five days helping with getting the new daimyo set up. He's apparently pretty good, but there are a few rogue nin from Mist that have it out for him. I gotta make sure that they don't mess with the election he's trying to set up to elect the new mayor to assist him in running Wave Country," Naruto explained through bites. "I hear you're gonna be gone for five days as well to take care of that lab in Rock country," Sasuke merely nodded. Naruto finished the rest of his ramen with a loud slurp.

"Alright! I'm finished. Love you Sakura-chan. See you later Sasuke. I'm sorry but I have to rush this morning. No time to chat like usual. I'm outta here," and with a kiss on the cheek for Sakura, and a wave to Sasuke, Naruto was out the door, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone in the kitchen. Sasuke got up to leave when something finally clicked in Sakura's brain.

"You've been stopping him before he gets home from missions and using the sharingan on him then, haven't you?" Sakura asked as Sasuke turned to leave. It made sense. She hadn't seen them together in Konoha because they _weren't_ together in Konoha. Sasuke intercepted Naruto before he even returned to the city's gates. Sasuke would be foolish to force himself on Naruto while they were training because anyone could show up and see them. It made sense that Sasuke intercepted him on the way home from solo missions.

"Do you really want to hear this?" Sasuke asked, his voice quiet.

"I have a right to know," Sakura said, rising from her seat.

"I notice you haven't told Naruto," Sasuke mused, avoiding her question. Sakura went rigid.

"Well do you have any ideas about how I go about telling him how much of a creep you are?" Sakura bit out as sarcastically as she could muster.

"Don't pretend you know half of what's going on. It's a lot more complicated than you think," Sasuke's voice was dangerously low.

"He's been my husband for over a year! How dare you pretend to care about Naruto when if he found out what was really going on, he'd be broken!" Sakura cried, tears streaming down her face. Last night she hadn't been able to feel angry at Sasuke because he'd been so pathetic, but now, in the daylight, as he dared pretend to care about Naruto, daring to come back into her home, her numbness had left her, and her rage was full blown.

"Don't you think I don't know that? Do you think I like keeping this a secret from him? He was mine well before you even thought to look his way. You're the one who doesn't know your own husband!" Without waiting for any more retaliating comments, Sasuke left the house.

Sakura stood in the kitchen, feeling utterly frozen for the second time in twenty-four hours. Sasuke's outburst had surprised her, his words ringing in her ears. What on earth was Sasuke talking about when he said that she didn't know half of what was going on? For a brief moment, he had seemed concerned about Naruto, as though raping his best friend was actually doing something good for Naruto. But then his concern had been replaced with a sickening possessiveness. Still, there was something in the way he said "do you think I like keeping this a secret from him?" as though there was some underlying meaning that she was missing.

"I don't know what to do," Sakura murmured to the air before getting up from the table and getting ready to go to Konoha hospital for her day shift. She had five days to plan before making any decisions.

* * *

Sasuke was distracted during his mission. He knew that he was supposed to be infiltrating one of Orochimaru's abandoned labs in Rock Country. It was one that had been vacant for some time now. Sasuke had never been to it while he was under Orochimaru's "care", so he suspected that it was a project that the dead snake sannin had lost interest in well over six years ago. There really wasn't much there for him to do, but he still couldn't even focus on the task at hand.

How had been so careless as to let Sakura find him so intimate with Naruto? If Naruto knew how much he had hurt Sakura, Naruto would kill him. Sasuke gave a hollow chuckle at that thought. If Naruto ever found out what Sasuke did to him, Naruto would flat out kill him for that. Sasuke shook his head. That wasn't entirely true. If Sasuke told him the reason why, then Naruto would understand – at least, Sasuke hoped he would.

Sasuke remembered the night he had planned to finally confess his deeds to Naruto, wondering if he had, if things would be different now.

FLASHBACK 

Sasuke had been using the sharingan to force Naruto to be compliant during sex with him for about six months. Sasuke swallowed at that thought. It sounded so terrible even in his own mind.

'If I just explain why, Naruto would understand. He won't like it, he may even hate the idea of it, but at least he would understand, and I can finally stop pretending. Maybe – maybe he would even be conscious for it,' Sasuke had thought to himself. He had psyched himself up for this moment. He'd invited Naruto to meet up with him at their old training grounds. It was somewhere neutral. If Naruto felt the need to leave, he could. Sasuke wanted to make this as painless as possible for Naruto - and himself. Confessing was not something he did often, and therefore not one of Sasuke's strong points, but he was a strategist, and Naruto would probably need some space afterwards.

As Naruto approached him, grinning widely, Sasuke couldn't help but grin as well, though his insides turned at the thought that he would be wiping that grin off of Naruto's face.

"Naruto-" Sasuke began, wanting to get it over and done with as quickly as possible, but Naruto interrupted him.

"Ne, ne Sasuke, before you start, I have something I want to talk to you about," Naruto said quietly. Sasuke looked at Naruto somewhat surprised. Did Naruto already suspect something? He sounded so serious.

"I know you never really showed interest in Sakura or anything, but, I just felt that I should let you know that she and I are dating now. You know, just so that there are no hard feelings," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. Sasuke didn't know what to say to that. Naruto was worried about Sasuke being hurt from him dating Sakura, when he clearly had no romantic interest in Sakura? If only Naruto knew that it wasn't Sakura being taken that was tearing his heart apart right now…

"No, no hard feelings at all. Congratulations," Sasuke said, forcing a small smile to his face, and then quickly wiped it off. It was too forced, and Naruto would see through it immediately.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, chewing on his lips.

"Well, I mean, I'm sure it will be awkward for me being the third wheel on a mission, but I guess I will just have to get used to experiencing what you felt when Sakura used to hang on me," Sasuke said, trying to joke around at the situation. Naruto grinned.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Naruto asked, looking around as though Sasuke were hiding some sort of surprise.

"N-nothing. Just wanted to spar. Needed someone I could go easy on," Sasuke smirked, knowing his comment would rile Naruto up.

"Teme! You'll never be able to go easy on me!" Without waiting, he attacked Sasuke, but Sasuke was used to how quickly Naruto would switch moods, and was prepared for the sudden outburst. This was what Sasuke lived for: these moments where Naruto's attention was focused solely on him. For Sasuke, he lived for the moments when he knew he was important to the blond, knowing that he was the only one to make Naruto get so riled up. He was the one that put that passion in Naruto's eyes. Even when Naruto looked at Sakura, he never seemed to have quite the same enthusiasm. Sakura would never be able to give him what Sasuke could. But thinking about Sakura hurt. She had liked Sasuke for so long, what did that mean for Naruto? Sasuke didn't like the idea that Sakura might just be using Naruto to get closer to him.

Sasuke's kunai clinked and scraped against Naruto's own blade, as the two of them turned to using weapons. Sasuke smirked as he dodged one of Naruto's shuriken, only to have three more clip by him, leaving three cuts in his clothing.

"What's the matter Sasuke? More distracted than usual? Even you should have been able to dodge those!" Naruto taunted, though still somehow managing to sound concerned about his friend.

"Just thinking that Sakura will probably be thinking of me while going on your dates," even as the words left his mouth Sasuke knew he had said the wrong thing. Naruto's attack stopped mid-air. It was a testament to just how strongly Naruto had felt insecure about his and Sakura's relationship that he stopped his attack rather than continuing. The former fire in his eyes was replaced with fury. "Naruto I-" Sasuke said, and then stopped. He hadn't meant it to be mean, but he knew that it was a horribly sore subject for Naruto. Naruto had been head over heels for Sakura for ages, and Sasuke had always been in the way.

"Doesn't matter who she's thinking about as long as it's me she's with," Naruto gritted out before forming the seals to transport away from the training grounds. Sasuke stood, slightly stunned, feeling horribly burned. 'Naruto cares for Sakura so much that he would be with her, even if she were to want someone else?' Sasuke mused darkly.

Sasuke sighed before making the same seals Naruto had and transported himself to the top of the Hokage Tower, knowing this was Naruto's thinking spot. And indeed, when Sasuke arrived, Naruto was there. Before Sasuke could pat himself on the back for his insight, he had to duck as a fist attempted to slam into his face.

"Teme!" Naruto gritted out as Sasuke swung his foot behind Naruto's legs, causing him to fall to the ground where Sasuke quickly straddled the blond, lifting Naruto's arms above his head to prevent him from doing any more seals, his sharingan blazing.

"You stupid dobe! Why would you be with Sakura when she might just be settling for you? Why would you settle for that? Why her? Why not someone else?" Sasuke demanded almost growling, adding 'Why not me?' silently in his mind. He felt like a complete hypocrite because he knew he was doing the exact same thing with Naruto, but he needed to know just how far gone Naruto was in his adoration of Sakura.

"Get off me, teme!"

"Answer my question!"

"No!"

"Answer me, goddamnit!" Sasuke hissed.

"What do you care? Won't you be happy that she's stopped bugging you?"

"I care because I don't want her to hurt you!" Sasuke yelled. Naruto looked as though Sasuke had slapped him.

"Really?" Naruto asked, his voice low and thoughtful.

"Yes," Sasuke said.

"Well then get-off me and I'll tell you," Naruto said grumpily. Sasuke slid off of him, which was probably a good idea since his lower regions had started to become excited at the familiar position of Sasuke being on top of Naruto, but Naruto actually being conscious and struggling against him.

Sasuke deactivated his sharingan as Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Even though Sakura has been harsh with me a lot, she's always been there for me. She's been my conscious when I need one, and she doesn't treat me any different than I deserve to be. I annoy her, and she responds with anger. I make her laugh, and she compliments me on my joke. When I was little, she and I played together once before her parents told her not to. I still remember that. She was shy and alone like I was when she was little, and I think that's her true personality. I think her being so scary at times is her own kind of mask. Also, I sortakindastoleherdiaryandreaditandshesaidalotofnicethingsaboutmeinit.Sheactuallywasgoingtogiveuponthechuunintestbecauseshedidn'twantmetolosemydreamofbeinghokageandall," Naruto said the last bit in one fast breath. Once Sasuke had deciphered what Naruto had said, he could merely nod, trying hard not to feel jealous, and not to say what he really wanted to.

'So it's okay that she beats you? It's okay that she was like all those who thought they were better than you? It's okay that she doesn't care about you?' But even as Sasuke thought about it, he knew that wasn't true. Sakura did care about Naruto. If he had understood what Naruto had quickly spurted out, he would have heard that Sakura would have failed the Chuunin written test for Naruto just so that he wouldn't have lost his dreams, and she would have known it would hinder Sasuke's ambitious. Sakura would have had to know that Sasuke would have chewed her ear at for doing that. In a sense, Sakura had picked Naruto's dream over Sasuke's even back then. Had Sakura also liked Naruto the whole time, and Sasuke merely over looked it? Or had Sasuke just not _wanted_ to see it?

"I see," Sasuke muttered out. Naruto frowned at Sasuke's strange behavior.

"Ne, Sasuke. What's the matter? You haven't been yourself today. You really freaked out on me back there," Naruto said, poking Sasuke in the side. A wicked grin spread over Naruto's face. "I think you need to get a girlfriend to get laid, hahahahahaha!" Naruto said, grinning suggestively. Sasuke's eye twitched. Get laid? Yes, that sounded like a good idea to Sasuke…

"Perhaps," Sasuke murmured, reactivating his sharingan.

"Sa...su...ke..." Naruto tried to get out, but it was no use. Sasuke's sharingan eyes had found and captured their pray. Naruto's eyes glazed over, his mind in a blissful state of oblivion, as Sasuke's hands came up to unzip Naruto's jacket, sliding it off him. Sasuke's hands slipped underneath the fishnet shirt Naruto wore, his hands coming in contact with the most exquisitely warm and delicious skin as he slowly lifted Naruto's shirt above his head, deliberately allowing his fingers to ghost over Naruto's sides. The mere contact of Sasuke's fingers left goosebumps on the other boy's skin. It always brought a smile to Sasuke's face to know that he could make Naruto's body react in such a way.

Sasuke took off his shirt and placed it like a pillow beneath Naruto's head. He leaned forward and kissed Naruto. His friend responded, his mouth opening to allow Sasuke's tongue to enter his mouth. Sasuke moaned as he pressed his mouth hard against Naruto's. He brought one of his hands up towards Naruto's face and used it to pinch Naruto's nose, cutting off his air. A few moments passed, and Naruto's body began to react, pressing itself harder against Sasuke, struggling for air as his mind went into a natural state of high. Using the weight of his body, Sasuke kept Naruto pinned to the ground.

As Naruto struggled, Sasuke reached his other hand down Naruto's pants and began to stroke him, the natural high making Naruto's body more sensitive and aroused, causing him to become hard more quickly. Sasuke gripped Naruto's arousal harder, and began to pump him even faster. Naruto moaned into his mouth as he continued to buck furiously against Sasuke. Naruto's lower half was slamming itself into Sasuke's palm, and Naruto's mouth pressed fiercely back against his. Sasuke suddenly withdrew his hand and removed his mouth from Naruto's. Naruto whimpered and his body bucked a few more times before going still.

Sasuke hated himself, hated the fact that he had to manipulate Naruto's natural need for air to get him to react, but he needed to see Naruto's reaction. He needed to know that Naruto wanted him as he much as he wanted Naruto, at least on some instinctual level, in order to tell himself that what he was doing was okay.

Grabbing Naruto by the waistband of his pants, Sasuke pulled Naruto towards him up off the ground as Sasuke latched his mouth on Naruto's neck, and began to suck. He was rewarded with unconscious mewls of pleasure from Naruto's beautiful lips.

Slowly, Sasuke began to pull Naruto's pants down. Naruto's body reacted to his so deliciously, as he watched Naruto buck his body against his again. Sasuke stroked Naruto's member a few times before pulling his own pants down, exposing his own hard member. Sasuke spat onto his hand, before slickening his cock with his spit. He was slightly afraid to hurt Naruto without lube, but figured Naruto should be well stretched by now from how long he had been having sex with him. Grabbing Naruto's legs, he tugged Naruto's pants completely off of him as he wrapped Naruto's legs around his waist, laying Naruto's head down against his shirt once more.

Sasuke positioned the head of his cock against Naruto's entrance. Naruto's cock twitched excitedly, his body turned on at the intimate contact. He began panting, and Sasuke grunted before thrusting into him. Naruto's body pressed against him, as Sasuke began to move in and out of Naruto. Naruto's body clenched around him, panting in time with Sasuke's thrusts, his eyes glazed over as he was simultaneously lost in the genjutsu and his own unwilling lust.

The friction was amazing. Sasuke had never taken Naruto without lube before, and his whole body shuddered at the feeling of Naruto's tight skin around his. Naruto was groaning and grunting underneath him, and Sasuke knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer like this.

He continued to thrust into Naruto, watching as Naruto's body arched against him every time he hit his prostrate, his breath coming in pleasured pants. Sasuke's breath became shallow and his and Naruto's bodies were soon covered in sweat.

"Naruto," Sasuke moaned out, as he lost control, lost himself in the feelings. Waves of pleasure began to build in his body, building up inside him, crashing against him, ready to break at any moment.

"Nnnn!" Naruto moaned loudly as his body spasmed with the release of his orgasm underneath Sasuke soaking both of their stomachs with his sperm, his squirming making Sasuke lose all sense of himself, along with all of his seed. Sasuke came hard and long, grunting as he continued to push into Naruto, riding out the best orgasm he had ever had.

Sasuke looked down at Naruto's face as he panted. Never before had he made Naruto come before he had. Who knew Naruto liked sex so raw? Who knew _he_ would like it so raw as well? Maybe he would have another go at it right now since that time had been so quick…

END FLASHBACK

Sasuke shook his head, willing the erotic images to disappear from his mind. He needed to focus so he could finish his mission quickly and return to Konoha sooner than Naruto did. With that thought in his mind, Sasuke got to work making notes of the empty laboratory. It had clearly been abandoned for some time, and Sasuke could find no trace of life: not even a spider scurrying about. There was something sinister about it, but Sasuke was used to sinister. He took all of the documents that had been left there, set explosives throughout the lab, and then exited the building. Sasuke set off the explosives when he had secured the area, making sure no one was around. He watched in bemusement as the underground base collapsed in upon itself before leaving the area.

Sasuke made good time getting back to Konoha. It had taken him two days to get there, a day to secure the base, and another two days to return to Konoha. He should have made it before Naruto returned. Feeling slightly annoyed with himself due to his lack of concentration, he headed towards the direction that Naruto would be returning from Wave Country. If he were lucky, he could intercept Naruto before he returned and take him before they entered Konoha.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, he wasn't the only one to think along those same lines.

"Going somewhere Sasuke?" Sakura asked, standing along the path to Konoha that Naruto would used to return from Wave Country.

"What are you doing here Sakura?" Sasuke asked, unconcernedly, purposefully ignoring her question. Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"You've got a lot of nerve to come here, you know that?" Sakura hissed out, her hand clenching into a fist, and drawing back. The message was clear.

"You want to fight me, Sakura?" Sasuke asked darkly. "What would Naruto think to find us here fighting?" Sakura spat in his face. Sasuke's eyes swirled red, and his aura darkened as he wiped the spit off his cheek.

"Bastard! Like you care about Naruto!" Sakura threw her punch, but Sasuke deflected it easily. They hadn't sparred since before Sasuke had left for Sound, and Sakura was clearly unaware that Sasuke was able to see clearly through taijutsu and genjutsu. Some ninjutsu were the only things that he could not block completely. Sakura continued to try and land punches on Sasuke, the amount of concentrated chakra in her hand waiting to be released, buzzing dangerously close to Sasuke's head.

"What's going on?" Sakura stopped her punches, and Sasuke turned slowly as Naruto approached, a look of confusion on his face.

"We decided to spar while we waited for you," Sasuke lied easily.

"Yes, we were thinking that we should go to Iciraku ramen, just the three of us," Sakura said, playing along, coming up to stand slightly behind Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes were on Naruto, once again their normal black color.

"Wow, that sounds great! It's nice to have my two favorite people waiting for me to get back from my mission," Naruto said smiling, rubbing the back of his head, pleasantly surprised. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sakura make a slight movement with her hand out of Naruto's line of sight.

Sasuke did a very good job of keeping his face neutral as Sakura's hand lightly touched the base of his spine, mind-numbing pain jolting through his body. As soon as the pain subsided, he could tell all feeling had left his legs, and it was with sheer will power alone that he kept standing. Sasuke cursed in his mind both at Sakura and himself. He cursed at Sakura for clearly paralyzing his lower half and cursed himself for letting his guard down as soon as Naruto had appeared.

"On second thought, I think I might stay out here and meditate. It's so peaceful out here," Sasuke said, trying to rid his voice from the strain it was using as he poured chakra into his lower body. He couldn't feel his legs, so it was difficult concentrating the right amount to his feet to keep him standing. The effort was exhausting him. Sasuke's body couldn't take it, and he collapsed, landing as gracefully as possible, quickly trying to hide that he had actually fallen by placing his legs in a meditative position. Naruto only gave him a funny look, but Sakura's triumphant smirk let him know that he hadn't fooled her in the least.

"Oh, are you sure?" Naruto asked slightly put out at Sauske's bizarre behavior.

"Un. I'll meet back up with you both in an hour," Sasuke said, waving his hand.

"It is such a lovely day. Take your time Sasuke-kun," Sakura replied brightly, taking Naruto's hand in her own and walking back. Naruto looked back over his shoulder at Sasuke once, giving him a confused look before pulling Sakura closer to his side and heading home.

"Kuso," Sasuke muttered as they were finally out of sight. He dug around in his pouch for a soldier medical pill. He popped it in his mouth and began chewing it. It tasted like crunchy earwax, and Sasuke nearly gagged. Feeling returned almost immediately to his legs, but he still felt unbalanced. He slowly got up and began to slowly walk back towards Konoha, cursing Sakura the entire time.

* * *

Next Chapter: White Lies

I'm not sure when I will post chapter three, but I was threatened under pain of death that I had to post chapter two. You can all thank lLotus (on for sending me death threats to get this chapter up. This story is dedicated to her, and this chapter is dedicated to Miss Mayumi (on who has also been pushing for its release. - Jelp


	3. Chapter 3: White Lies

**Mine**

**Chapter 3: White Lies**

Sasuke walked past Ichiraku ramen, not surprised to see that Sakura and Naruto were not there. He had a feeling that Sakura would try and persuade Naruto to do something else in the meantime to make sure that she kept the two of them apart for as long as possible. Instead, he decided to continue his leisurely – though unavoidably – slow pace to go to Naruto's. Sasuke's legs were starting to return to their normal feeling as the medical soldier pill began to take full effect.

Sasuke walked slowly up the stairs to their front door, held his hand over the doorknob when he heard muffled noises coming from inside. His insides burned with an indescribable, and almost vengeful jealousy as he heard Sakura cry out Naruto's name in ecstasy, followed by Naruto's muffled cry of Sakura's name. Sasuke withdrew his hand, and turned tail in the other direction, trying to block out the mental images that were coming to his mind as he thought of the two of them having sex.

The worst image of all was Sakura's name escaping from Naruto's lips. Sasuke had always wanted to hear Naruto say his name instead of Sakura's. It was something that Sasuke had longed to hear, desperately wishing for Naruto to say his name just once as Naruto orgasmed, _as Naruto orgasmed because Sasuke was bringing him over the edge_. But Sasuke couldn't risk that. The images that Sasuke fed Naruto through his sharingan were mere blurs of what Naruto might be doing as Sasuke focused more on pleasuring Naruto's body. He couldn't risk Naruto suspecting something by trying to coerce him into saying his name. Naruto would probably remember that image of Sasuke having sex with him, and Sasuke couldn't tell him yet.

"I said I'd join them in an hour," Sasuke muttered under his breath, looking at the sky that informed him that an hour has passed since the time he had said it, and the time he had begun his slow journey back. Sasuke stormed off from their house, not bothering to suppress his rage and possessive jealousy. He hated talking to anyone, but he felt that he needed some advice. So he went to the only person in the entire world that knew of his situation besides himself.

As Sasuke walked off, he didn't notice Sakura glancing out the window of her bedroom to see Sasuke retreating, smiling to herself in her triumph.

"Mine," she whispered.

"Sakura," Naruto said. "We're going to be late to meet Sasuke," Naruto said, frowning in pleasured exhaustion.

"We'll get cleaned up and then we'll go," Sakura said brightly.

------------

Sasuke waited outside the Hokage's office, waiting for her to stop giving orders to Shizune. As Shizune exited Tsunade's office, Sasuke slipped in without knocking.

Tsunade frowned upon seeing him. She hated the expressionless mask that he wore, but she could tell by the slightly squared shoulders that he was having problems with Naruto.

"What now?" She asked, sighing. Sasuke closed and locked the door behind them, and Tsunade stood up and locked the windows. These conversations were not for anyone else's ears, and she didn't want a random ninja to try and come through the windows during their talk. She even closed the blinds for good measure.

"Sakura found out," Sasuke muttered. Tsunade turned from her position, and glared at Sasuke.

"_What?_ How could you have been so foolish?" Tsunade bellowed.

"Sakura wasn't supposed to be home for another few hours-"

"Were you in _their_ house?" Tsunade demanded, her rage heightening. She slammed her fist on the wall, a deep mark imprinted there. "What the hell were you thinking? This is not supposed to be personal Sasuke. This is not about you. This was a mission, a mission to keep Naruto alive. You were foolish and selfish to take Naruto in his own home." Tsunade moved around from her desk, and pointed her finger accusatorily at Sasuke. "I think you wanted Sakura to find out. You wanted someone to be the one to tell Naruto, and you couldn't do it yourself." Sasuke looked at her defiantly. Of course hadn't wanted Sakura to find out! He had hoped Sakura would never know, and how dare Tsunade tell him about it not being personal when she had first given the mission to him, she had practically _encouraged_ it.

"How could you not have expected this to become personal? Even when you told me about this three years ago, it was personal. You encouraged it to be personal then! You know full well I would never have agreed if it were anyone but Naruto," Sasuke spat out bitterly.

"You're enjoying this far too much."

"If I don't enjoy it, then how am I supposed to get off?"

"I gave you those aphrodisiac pills. They should be more than enough for you to get it over and done with quickly." She turned to look at the closed windows. Sasuke glowered. The first aphrodisiac pills she had given him hadn't really been what she had first told him they were, but she had long since replaced those first "sugar" pills with very potent aphrodisiac. He refused to take them now. In the beginning, she had actually encouraged him to chase after Naruto. It wasn't until Naruto had started to date Sakura that she had begun to change her opinion on what was going on.

"You know full well I only agreed to your most recent terms because Naruto's life was in immediate danger at the time, and-"

"-and if I don't continue, his life will be in immediate danger again-"

"-but would you dare, Sasuke?" She paused, glaring at him. "I picked you because I thought you were going to eventually tell Naruto what was going on, and at least be discreet enough to continue your mission without interrupting his daily life if he was uncomfortable with it. In the beginning you know he would have understood. What about now? Why haven't you told him yet? Nothing good will come of waiting! Three years have passed and you've kept your silence. Clearly you haven't felt it necessary to tell him a thing! If I had known that you would be too cowardly to do so, I would have made different arrangements."

"Why haven't you told him yourself then?" Sasuke asked.

"As I've told you several times before, Naruto is studying to become the next Hokage. He knows what is required of me as Hokage. It's you, and the way you have chosen to go about this that needs to be addressed. That is on your conscious, and yours alone." Sasuke processed her words for a moment before speaking.

"I know that I was originally not supposed to tell anyone about the mission except Naruto if I so chose, but considering the new circumstances, do I have permission to tell Sakura about it? If I do, I'm sure she won't get in the way," Sasuke asked.

"'Get in the way?' Is that what you think she'll do? Get in the way? Naruto is her husband, and you're treating her like what you're doing has no effect on her. You're a shinobi. Your responsibility is to carry out your missions without getting emotionally involved. Sakura is Naruto's wife, and since this is a mission, you should treat her with as much consideration as you would a civilian in a normal mission as per the Konoha ninja code," Tsunade said with a chill to her words.

"And what about Naruto? Naruto always gets personally involved in all of his missions. Why hasn't he been reprimanded for his behavior?" Sasuke asked bitterly.

"Like you said, Naruto gets personally involved in all of his missions, not just one, like you." Tsunade walked over to Sasuke and painted a polished red fingernail straight at his face. "Myself and others close to him watched Naruto suffer for years after you left Konoha. I'll be damned if I understand the relationship the two of you have, but he cares about you, and I would think that you would care more about him than just sexually in order to tell him what is going on. There have been times when I have come so close to telling him, until the image of how hurt he was at your betrayal, the tears that streamed down his face, the utter guilt that always seem to haunt the depths of his eyes comes to my mind. If anyone but you tells him what is going on, it will break his heart again. Naruto is strong, but that doesn't mean that anyone else, especially you, has any right to hurt him like that."

"I don't want to hurt him. That's why no one should tell him," Sasuke said.

"I thought giving you this chance and this mission would be a way of helping to redeem yourself in his eyes. I thought this would be best for the both of you because I honestly thought in the beginning of all of this that you _loved_ him."

"I do," Sasuke whispered quietly, so quietly that Tsunade almost didn't hear him "but he's married and-"

"-and it is your own fault for not confessing sooner that you love him, if you call what you feel for him love. Love should be mutual. Tell him," Tsunade urged. Sasuke looked away from her.

"I'm afraid that if he finds out," Sasuke said, finally voicing his greatest fear, "he'd rather die than let me save him."

Sasuke suddenly flew backwards as the polished fingernail Tsunade had been pointing at him flicked out at his forehead. He landed with a resounding crash. Sasuke groaned and quickly got back up, glaring furiously at Tsunade.

"If I had thought that there was a chance that Naruto would rather die, I would have gone to him and given him the option. As it is, you clearly don't know him. His determination to protect those who are dear to him gives him the greatest reason for living. Do you even know Naruto at all?" Tsunade asked Sasuke pitifully.

Sasuke wiped the small trickle of blood that had appeared at the corner of his mouth away. Strangely enough, he could tell that what Tsunade had said and done was not out of anger, but instead she was actually trying to knock some sense into him, but she was doing so not for his sake, but for Naruto's. He didn't bother to say anything more as he turned to leave with little comfort from the advice she had given. He should have known better than to actually expect anything helpful from Tsunade. Just as he was about to open the door, Tsunade yelled out parting words to him.

"I forbid you to tell Sakura about the mission before you tell Naruto. I cannot make you tell him, as that was part of the agreement, but I strongly suggest for your sake, stop running from it. The longer you wait to tell him, the harder he'll take it when he finds out," Tsunade said. Sasuke didn't bother to acknowledge that he had heard her before leaving the Hokage's office.

Tsunade watched Sasuke as he left her office. She put her face in her hands and took a deep shuddering breath. When she had first found out about Naruto's bizarre medical condition, she had been mortified. After Naruto had returned Sasuke to Konoha, he had been battle worn to say the least. She had given him a normal checkup, but had been horrified to find the cells in Naruto's body mutating. If the mutation continued at the same level that it was at, he would have less than a year to live. Tsunade hadn't been able to break the news to Naruto. Instead, all she could do was smile at Naruto, congratulate him for returning Sasuke, and tell him that he would need to stay in Konoha for a while to look over Sasuke.

In truth, the reason that she had made Sasuke stay in Konoha for six months without any missions on his "probation" was to try and get Naruto to want to stay there as well. She hoped that she could explain that she wasn't giving him any missions so that he could be with Sasuke instead of by telling him that he wasn't allowed to go on missions because she was trying to find a cure for him. Naruto was the kind that if she told him that he was not allowed to protect his village that he would be the first to try and disobey her to fight for his loved ones.

Naruto had stayed in the village for the most part trying to get Sasuke to be more sociable after his return. She had tried not to let him go on too many missions, and she had been successful. Since Naruto was a jinchuuriki, she had attributed his mutating genes to a negative side effect of Kyuubi's doing. She had worked endlessly to try and figure out why his cells were mutating so she could then figure out a cure for her precious Naruto. Once she had finally found the cause for Naruto's mutating cells, the only possible solution she had been able to find had not made her happy. Since Naruto housed the Kyuubi's Yang chakra in him since Yondaime had sealed away the Yin chakra, Naruto's body was off balance due to too much use of solely Yang chakra. She had to help give him a balance of Yin chakra into his system to stop his cells from mutating, but how was that possible? Who would have an imbalance of Yin chakra in their system to be a donor to counterbalance Naruto's?

What should have been an impossible enigma to solve, the answer came to Tsunade almost immediately. With Sasuke's cursed seal (courteous of Orochimaru), she had done tests on him upon his return to note that his mutational gene had given his entire body an offset of Yin chakra. Since Yin was the darker, impassive element, and Yang the brighter, more dominate element, it seemed ironic that the two boys balanced themselves out. Wind was an element of Yang; Naruto's element, and fire was an element of Yin; Sasuke's clan's element. While Sasuke had a substantial excess of the Yin element to his chakra, it was not nearly as damaging as the Yang element. Yang was more forceful and Yin more passive, so it did not affect Sasuke's body as much.

While it seemed like a lucky deal to Tsunade (something she knew always fell as a bad omen to her), next came the problematic part: how to mix their chakras in order to prevent Naruto's over balance of Yang from killing him? The difficult task would be to actually have to mix the DNA of their chakra together. Pouring straight chakra into someone was risky at best, and doing so on a frequent basis would stop Naruto's heart. DNA chakra mixing was the only option. She had called Sasuke back to her office in the pretense of checking his mental health and other bodily functions while taking samples of his blood, not just for his own health, but to see how it would react with Naruto's blood.

She had then called Naruto back to her office for some "check-up" tests which he had said that he didn't need but complied when she had threatened that she would make the owner of Ichiraku ramen forbidden from selling him ramen. Unfortunately, when Tsunade had tried to mix Sasuke's blood sample with Naruto's blood sample, the samples hadn't mixed. In fact, it had damaged Naruto's blood cells. Naruto's blood had reacted poorly to Sasuke's blood because Naruto's blood type was B and Sasuke's blood type was AB. B types could not accept AB blood types, so having Sasuke give Naruto a blood transfer with his chakra in it was out of the question. The next choice Tsunade thought of was saliva. Sasuke's chakra would be embedded in his DNA in his saliva, but that option quickly proved to be impossible. Naruto would have to drink at least twenty pints of Sasuke's saliva on a frequent basis to get enough Yin chakra to offset his chakra imbalance. While she knew the human body produced 2 to 4 pints a day, collecting twenty pints was just ridiculous. Tsunade went through a list of many possible different remedies, but in the end, the only thing that she could think of that would have enough of Sasuke's DNA in it was his sperm.

This discovery had greatly unnerved Tsunade, but she found no other way around it. Initially she had once again called Sasuke back to her office for another examination, only to find that he was looking more and more lifeless. Not that Sasuke had ever been one to particularly look excited about much, but it was clear that his inability to do anything was driving him slowly to madness.

Tsunade had hastily explained a small part of the situation to Sasuke. She remembered their conversation as if it were yesterday.

FLASHBACK

"Naruto is dying," Tsunade had stated bluntly. Sasuke's eyes had widened slightly, and he had looked ever so slightly less apathetic.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto is dying. Long story short you might be able to help keep him alive."

"I'll do anything," Sasuke said immediately, and Tsunade raised her eyebrows. She had never understood the relationship between the two boys, but it was clear that they cared about each other. Even Sasuke, the tormented boy that he was seemed to truly care about Naruto over everyone else. He had come back after all. She tilted her head to the side, sizing Sasuke up. Come to think about it, he didn't seem to care much about his fangirls at all, and something seemed to click in the intelligent medical nin's brain. 'He loves Naruto as more than just a friend,' Tsunade concluded. It really shouldn't have shocked her as much as it did, but it made sense. The first question was did Sasuke know about how strong his feelings ran for Naruto? Having been so emotionally stunted for years, she wasn't so sure. The second question was did Naruto have any love-like feelings for Sasuke?

The short answer to that was yes. He had been obsessed with returning Sasuke for over three years; he had left the Village that Tsunade knew he loved like no one else ever had in order to train to get Sasuke back. If Naruto cared about Sasuke even more than the Village Naruto loved and cared about, then Tsunade was sure that Naruto loved Sasuke deeply, deeply enough that it was very possible for that kind of love to blossom into the strong bond of romantic love.

"You need to have sex with Naruto to keep him alive," Tsunade explained simply. Sasuke's mouth opened slightly, and his eyes widened. She was sure she had never seen an Uchiha struck so utterly speechless before. Sasuke's mouth moved slightly, as though wanting to have further explanation, but words seemed impossible for him to form. Tsunade decided to explain further: "Naruto's genes have been mutated. The sperm of another male is required to enter his system to offset the mutation."

Tsunade purposefully left out the part that it was specifically Sasuke that needed to be the one to have sex with Naruto. She wasn't sure if she could handle giving Sasuke that much power over Naruto. She knew what asking Sasuke to do might entail some horrible deception on both of their parts. Tsunade had a very sinking suspicion that even if Sasuke agreed, he wouldn't want Naruto to know. Hell, Tsunade didn't want Naruto to know that he was dying. Still, she had decided to leave it up to Sasuke instead of Naruto because if Naruto knew that the only way for him to live was for Sasuke to shoot his sperm into his body, it might break Naruto. If only Sasuke knew and it broke his heart, well, Tsunade was far more willing to hurt him than Naruto.

She was being selfish and she knew it. She was taking Naruto's fate into her own hands and giving it to Sasuke to decide what to do with it. But she couldn't help it. Tsunade couldn't bear to know that she had the power, well, at least the ability to force Sasuke to save Naruto.

"I'm making this a mission. Your mission is to keep Naruto alive at all costs. He will be the next Hokage, and it is your job to make sure that he lives in order to protect the people of Konoha."

END FLASHBACK

Now, looking back on her decision, she wondered if it had been the right one. She had been so sure that if she had made it sound like she had chosen him because she knew that Naruto would have wanted him to be the one to help him, that Sasuke would use it to his advantage and tell Naruto about his feelings. Naruto and Sasuke seemed to complete each other; Yin and Yang, day and night, fire fueled by wind, and yet Sasuke hadn't acted. He had kept quiet.

And six months after she had told Sasuke to begin giving his sperm to Naruto, Sakura and Naruto had started dating. That worried her above everything else.

With Sakura dating Naruto, Sakura was now put in serious danger. If Sasuke did not continue to put his yin chakra into Naruto, then Naruto's yang chakra would begin to grow to dangerous levels again, and would once again start appearing in his sperm. If Sakura and Naruto had sex when his yang levels were too high, it could severely hurt Sakura. Or worse, kill her.

Tsunade knew she was playing a very dangerous gamble, and she knew it was different than just a game because Naruto and Sakura were very precious to her.

The problem was Sasuke. She had never really liked him. Both Sakura and Naruto had chased after him for so many years, and he had treated them horribly. When he had returned to Konoha, he had been rather pathetic. He had nothing left after his revenge, and Tsunade felt hardly any sorrow for him. If he hadn't been so hell bent on seeking his revenge then he could have stayed in Konoha and become stronger with his friends. She knew what it was like to lose family, and she did not belittle that weight on his shoulders, but how he had handled it had been wrong.

Having to place Naruto's fate in his hands had been difficult, but she had hoped, she had hoped beyond anything else, that Naruto would be able to change Sasuke. Naruto was the light for so many people, she was sure that Sasuke would - if he hadn't in the beginning - fallen for Naruto. Who didn't love him in some way? Yet when Sasuke refused to tell Naruto after Naruto and Sakura started dating, it was only her fear that Sasuke would refuse to continue to balance Naruto's chakra that prevented her from telling Naruto. She feared giving Sasuke the power to know that he was the only one that could keep Naruto alive. Would he use that to his advantage to manipulate Naruto into staying with him? What about Sakura? Why hadn't Sasuke told Naruto and let Naruto choose who he wanted to be with?

Tsunade sighed, grabbing her bottle of sake that she kept hidden from underneath her desk. She could only hope that Sakura and Naruto wouldn't hate her for putting her faith in the same boy that they had both chased after for so many years.

------------

Sasuke rubbed his forehead, cursing Tsunade for her strength and once more for teaching Sakura how to do medical techniques. His legs still ached from earlier, and he wanted to hurt something. He was mad at himself for letting both Sakura AND Tsunade land hits on him in the same day, and he vowed not to let it happen again. Deciding to head over to Ichiraku ramen to see if Naruto and Sakura were there to meet him at last, he formulated his plan.

He had a mission to complete after all; he had to make sure that he balanced whatever it was that Tsunade had refused to tell him needing balancing in Naruto's body to make sure he lived.

And damn it if he wasn't going to enjoy it.

Upon arriving to Ichiraku, he noted that both Naruto and Sakura were there. Sakura looked smug, and he had a sneaking suspicion she knew that he had heard them having sex. Naruto looked rather sated himself, and Sasuke had to take a deep breath to calm himself.

Sasuke ignored Sakura's challenging glare as he saw Naruto turn in his seat to see who had entered the ramen stand. Naruto grinned broadly at seeing him, and waved at him. Ichiraku's owner, Teuchi, and his daughter Ayume both greeted him as well, and Sasuke smiled, activating his sharingan.

"Hello," Sasuke greeted as he caught all four of the people inside the ramen inside his sharingan. Tsunade had once forbidden him from using his sharingan on any Konoha nin save Naruto in order to fulfill his mission, but he considered the weight of what might happen if Naruto did not get his sperm soon outweigh Tsunade limiting his sharingan use. It was also his small way of rebelling since she hadn't bothered to help him. He took the time to note that even Sakura hadn't been able to protect herself from his sharingan as he led his beloved Naruto away from the other three who wouldn't remember ever seeing him there, and especially from Sakura who wouldn't remember that Naruto ever left her side.

Sasuke took Naruto back to his place and made sure that he fulfilled his mission - several times over.

* * *

Next Chapter: The First Time

I hope this chapter wasn't too boring, but some necessary information came out. Smut next chapter. - Jelp

Also, special thanks to ArtDuncan for noting my physiological error in Chapter 1. And thbbb to lL0tus who laughed at me for my error because she knows I know better. Even so, this chapter is dedicated to her because she said this chapter didn't suck.

FYI for those who are interested: Identity Crisis (the sequel to Restless) is now up. I also have a oneshot that's rather angsty called The Queerwolf.


	4. Chapter 4: The First Time

I know what you're all thinking: two updates for this story in one week? Yeah, I don't know how I managed that one either.

FYI: I few people expressed concerns about Tsunade's behavior. In the beginning she didn't want to tell Naruto because she didn't want Naruto to know how ill he was. She also thought that Sasuke would eventually tell Naruto what was happening on his own. When Sasuke didn't, she didn't want to be the one to hurt Naruto by telling Naruto what Sasuke was doing in case he saw it as a betrayal of sorts on Sasuke's part. She was also worried that Sasuke might not want to tell Naruto, and that Sasuke would stop doing his mission if she forced him to tell Naruto. Basically she really distrusts Sasuke and has an underlying fear that he will betray everyone again at any moment, but since Sasuke's the only one that can save Naruto, she's trying to compromise so that he will do what she tells him to do. I'll try and edit Chapter 3 and make it clearer in the future that Tsunade is honestly trying to protect Naruto in the best way she feels possible.

_Smut second half of chapter._

**Mine**

**Chapter 4: The First Time**

Sasuke lay with his arm draped over Naruto's naked body, his friend lost in his sharingan genjutsu. Naruto lay with his eyes unfocused on the ceiling, a lazy and contented smile on his face. Sasuke smirked ever so slightly, knowing that only he could make Naruto feel so good that he had such a contented look even in a genjutsu. The slight smirk vanished as Sasuke felt a sharp pain shoot through his eyes. He closed his eyes, rubbing at them. He really shouldn't be using his sharingan for so long, but he had been so frustrated with his situation. He was being stupid and selfish.

He rolled over onto his side to spoon against Naruto half tempted to get rid of the illusion and see what Naruto's reaction would be to waking up naked next to an equally naked Sasuke.

Probably not a good reaction, but Sasuke would finally get everything out in the open. It would be quite obvious that they'd had sex; he was pretty sure that Kyuubi hadn't had enough time to heal Naruto yet, so Naruto would probably figure out what they had been up to considering how rough the sex had been.

Sasuke knew he should tell Naruto what was going on, but he was afraid of Naruto rejecting him. He felt utterly pathetic, but it was the truth. Returning to Konoha had been a horrible experience: a living nightmare. He had felt like he had no purpose in his life after killing Itachi, and he had contemplated committing suicide during his first month back. Yet all of that changed when he had once again had a purpose.

Over the past three years, knowing that he was the one that kept his friend alive, knowing that Naruto's life depended on him had made him feel important and wanted - strangely loved. Even now he felt foolish cradling Naruto's body in his arms. He wondered if this was what a necromancer felt like, to know that the other person could not reject them.

He felt disgusting, but he knew he feared rejection above everything else. What would he do if the person that he lived for rejected him? He had hurt Naruto so much in the past, and Naruto had always, _always_ come after him. But would Naruto come for him after such a huge deceit?

Tsunade said that he didn't know Naruto if Sasuke thought his best friend would hate him and reject him when Naruto found out the situation.

And a part of him knew that Tsunade was at least partially right. Naruto probably wouldn't reject him completely, but Naruto had already chosen Sakura over him. There was a strange sense of security in knowing that as long as Naruto didn't know that Sasuke liked him, Sasuke could believe that Naruto would have picked him over Sakura. If he told Naruto, if Naruto found out, then Naruto probably _would _understand why Sasuke did what he was doing. He'd probably be grateful that Sasuke was keeping him alive. Yet could Sasuke handle the look of resolution on his friend's face if Naruto wanted to be aware during the sex? Could he stand to see the disgust on Naruto's face? Sasuke didn't want that. He wanted to know that as long as Naruto didn't know who was making his body feel good, that Sasuke could always cherish the knowledge that he could make Naruto, the one he loved, feel better than anyone else.

He also felt a strange sort of pride knowing that he was the one saving Naruto's life. It was his secret. He could take silent credit that Naruto was still alive when no one else knew, and Sasuke was sure that he was the only one that could do it.

Sasuke was far from stupid. He knew that there had been something different about why Tsunade had asked _him_ to be the one to have sex with Naruto. She had been illusive when he had asked for specific details about what would happen to Naruto if Sasuke were not the one to do it and someone else were to complete the mission. All she had said was that it had to be done, and if it wasn't, that the consequence would be Naruto's death. Still, he was angry about being left in the dark about his whole role in keeping Naruto alive...

FLASHBACK

"Naruto is dying," Tsunade had stated bluntly. Sasuke's eyes had widened slightly, and he had looked ever so slightly less apathetic.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto is dying. Long story short you might be able to help keep him alive."

"I'll do anything," Sasuke said immediately, and Tsunade raised her eyebrows.

"You need to have sex with Naruto to keep him alive," Tsunade explained simply. Sasuke's mouth opened, and his eyes widened. He hadn't expected her to say that. He was dumbstruck. If it weren't for the serious look on her face, he would have thought she was playing a joke on him. Tsunade decided to explain further: "Naruto's genes have been mutated. The sperm of another male is required to enter his system to offset the mutation."

Sasuke could only stare open mouthed at Tsunade, not really believing she was asking him to do what he thought she was.

"I'm making this a mission. Your mission is to keep Naruto alive at all costs. He will be the next Hokage, and it is your job to make sure that he lives in order to protect the people of Konoha."

"Did Naruto ask you to ask me to do this?" Sasuke asked, confused. Tsunade shook her head.

"He does not know yet," Tsunade said truthfully. Sasuke's furrowed his brow.

"What am I supposed to tell him? 'Tsunade told me I have to shove my dick up your ass or you'll die?' What's going on here?" Sasuke demanded. Tsunade sighed. She leaned forward in her chair, and propped her elbows upon her desk, linking her hands together so she could rest her chin upon them.

"What do you think you should tell him?" Tsunade asked. Sasuke looked to the side, unable to find an answer himself.

"How will this help him?" Sasuke asked.

"I am sure you are familiar with the seven most basic chakra points? The crown chakra point, the brow chakra point, the throat chakra point, the heart chakra point, the solar plexus chakra point, the spleen chakra point, and the root chakra point?"

"Yes."

"Are you aware of the endocrine glands associated with each chakra point?" Tsunade asked. Sasuke shook his head, and Tsunade continued. "The crown is associated with the pineal gland, the brow the pituitary gland, the throat the thyroid gland, the heart the thymus, the solar plexus the adrenaline glands and the pancreas, and the spleen the testes (in men) and the ovaries (in women.) For many years it was debated on whether or not the root chakra had an endocrine gland related to it," Tsunade paused for a moment, pausing to make sure he understood.

"When it was finally believed to be the prostate, a gland that people assumed only men had, this was a key factor in men trying to prevent women from becoming ninja, saying they did not possess the necessary chakra point for becoming a shinobi. However, when it was clear that women did have the root chakra point, chakra researches tried to find another gland besides the prostate. New medical studies have shown that it is actually the prostate that stimulates this root chakra, and it appears that both men and women have a prostate, just located in a separate places."

"And where is the prostate located?" Sasuke asked.

"In the female anatomy, it appears that it is located in the urethral, or up the vagina. It's more commonly called the 'G-spot.' In male anatomy, the prostate is up the ass."

"Thank you for the anatomy and chakra lesson, but what does this have to do with Naruto?" Sasuke asked darkly.

"The root chakra point is the key to survival. Naruto is, shall we say, in need of chakra stimulation. In order for that to occur, he needs to be stimulated at his root chakra point so that way it will reset the core of where his base chakra flow comes from and thus circulate throughout his entire body."

"I still don't understand how I fit into all of this," Sasuke said.

"Naruto needs to have anal sex in order to have his prostate stimulated to activate his root chakra point so that it will absorb your sperm's chakra. Without the stimulation of the gland to induce chakra absorption, your chakra will not be absorbed, and it would be pointless to have your sperm in his body without the stimulation. Just make sure that you ejaculate enough sperm into him. The more chakra he absorbs the better."

END FLASHBACK

Tsunade had given him a bag of things to help "prepare" himself and Naruto for each time that he had to go to Naruto in order to fulfill his long-term mission.

Sasuke and Tsunade had argued more after she had given him his instructions and mission "kit." Sasuke had asked why his blood wasn't being used since that could go throughout Naruto's entire system as well, but she had explained that their blood types were not compatible. Sasuke had tried to come up with other types of physical chakra to use to save Naruto, but he had been at a loss.

As soon as Tsunade had mentioned his sperm's chakra, he knew that she was talking about Yin chakra, the physical chakra. Yang chakra, the spiritual chakra, would have been much easier to transfer. However, it appeared as though Naruto had an imbalance of spiritual Yang chakra. Sasuke could only assume having a celestial Nine-Tailed Demon fox born inside a person could royally screw up the chakra system in one's body.

Even so, he had protested. He had proposed different ways to try and protect Naruto without having sex with him. It was humiliating to not only him but to Naruto. Sasuke had known immediately why Tsunade had made it obvious that she didn't want Naruto to know because of the humiliation. He had agreed to not tell Naruto for the same reason - at first.

It was clear that the Fifth Hokage did not trust him, and it was even clearer that she had mixed feelings about entrusting this particular mission to him. He could see how torn she was. It was as though she was trying to save _him_ in addition to Naruto, as though she thought by giving him this mission that it would help him. Sasuke was sure that Tsunade was trying her hardest to make sure that he did not fall from grace again because it would affect both Naruto and Sakura. He was pretty sure that she only cared about him because what happened to him influenced his former teammates. He did not disillusion himself. She cared about him only because she cared how he affected Naruto and Sakura.

After learning about his mission, Sasuke had locked himself away in his home. He had to think about what he was doing, and how he would do it. Tsunade hadn't specifically said that he couldn't tell Naruto, but he hadn't been sure how to approach the subject with Naruto. But his isolation and time for contemplating his situation only lasted five days. Naruto had burst into his home, demanding that he come out because people were worried about him. When Sasuke hadn't responded, Naruto engaged him in a fight.

All of his frustrations, all of his anger left when he and Naruto had fought inside of his house, and Sasuke had felt alive again for the first time since his return. He made up his mind on the way over to Icihiraku ramen that he would do anything to keep Naruto alive because if he died, what else did Sasuke have to live for? It had felt so good to know that Naruto cared about him, to know that Naruto wanted to make sure that he was still okay. Naruto was the only one that had ever really understood him, and he was scared of losing him. His apathy applied to everything but Naruto. If Naruto were to die, then he knew that he would follow his friend in death.

Sasuke enjoyed the day with Naruto, being dragged out from his home and to Ichiraku ramen and back again. Looking at Naruto that night as Naruto complained that Sasuke didn't have any ramen in his house, looking at the life within his friend, he decided he would try and help him.

So, being the good friend that he was, once Naruto was least suspecting it, he used his sharingan to make Naruto fall into a genjustu and dragged him up to his bedroom to molest him in order to save his life. Sasuke could clearly remember his first night when he was so hesitant about fulfilling his mission. It was ironic to think how against the whole thing he had been!

FLASHBACK

Sasuke shakily paced back and forth staring at his unconscious friend as he lay on his bed. He knew what he had to do, knew that it was the only way for him to save his friend, but he couldn't bring himself to force himself inside of Naruto.

"There's got to be a different way," Sasuke muttered to himself frantically as he opened the bag that Tsunade had given him, looking through its contents as though she had hidden a secret message for him. He pulled everything out: the aphrodisiac pills, the lubrication, the sedative, the damn instructions (Sasuke sneered at the instructions, as though he needed to be reminded of what he had to do), and last, but not least, he glared at the bottle of sake that Tsunade had added in order to help him "loosen up."

As Sasuke stared at each item that Tsunade had given him, minus the instructions, he found his gaze returning to the lube. 'Perhaps,' Sasuke mused to himself, 'perhaps I don't actually have to go all the way _inside_ of him if I just make sure to get it _into_ him.' Maybe if he made sure to shoot his sperm inside of Naruto, Sasuke could just stimulate the prostate afterwards?

Steeling himself, Sasuke hastily took off his clothes. He had contemplated just pulling down his fly and getting it over and done with, but with the way he was sweating from his nervousness the night air felt good against his naked body. When Sasuke approached Naruto who lay almost doll like on his bed, his eyes staring off into no where, lost in time, Sasuke only pulled Naruto's boxers and pants down to his ankles. He refused to take them off completely as though it would indicate a more intimate situation.

Sasuke's cock twitched expectantly and began to harden as he leaned Naruto over the side of the bed. Sasuke laid Naruto partially on his stomach with his naked lower half in just the right position that Sasuke could place the tip of his penis to shoot his sperm inside of Naruto's anal opening. As Sasuke leaned over to adjust Naruto's face so that he wouldn't have to look into his eyes, looking into his blank eyes as he violated his friend, his cock brushed the warmth of Naruto's exposed skin. At the contact, Sasuke's body felt like an electric jolt had gone through him.

Gasping, Sasuke moved back away from Naruto. It had to have just been the shock of how warm Naruto was, right? Sasuke tried to convince himself that that was the only reason his body had responded to touching Naruto's. He took a deep breath and grabbed the lube from the bag. He squirted some onto his hand, and then massaged it onto his cock, a slight tingling sensation flitting over his dick. Sasuke began to slowly massage himself, wrapping his hand around the head and upper shaft as he stroked himself. His hands began to shake, and the weight of what he was doing, what he was doing to his friend, despite the fact that it was the only way to save his friend made it impossible for him to find pleasure. His member began to deflate and go limp in his hand.

"Damnit," Sasuke cursed. He grabbed the aphrodisiac pills and swallowed four, washing them down with a swig of the sake that burned going down his throat. "Shit," Sasuke cursed again, as his vision began to swim immediately, realizing that Tsunade must have laced the sake with something as his cock practically bounced to life in record time. "Probably got the recipe from Jiraiya," Sasuke muttered darkly, feeling hornier than he was sure he had felt before in his life. He deeply appreciated just how great of a medical ninja the Godaime must be in order to make something so incredibly potent. If she really wanted to get money that badly, she should quit gambling and sell whatever she had put in the sake or the aphrodisiac pills. Nonetheless, his mind was strangely clear, focusing on what he needed to do. He began to stroke himself, and he knew that he would be able to come this time.

At first, Sasuke blamed it on what Tsunade had given him, as he began to envision himself actually entering Naruto and pounding into him, feeling the way that Naruto would moan and writhe beneath him, but it was this thought that helped make Sasuke come. As he felt the pull starting inside of him, he quickly placed the tip of his head to Naruto's entrance, holding it there as he came, squirting his semen inside of Naruto. Only some of it went in.

"Come on," Sasuke groaned, remembering that Tsunade said that it had to be a lot, and his body shook as he spasmed in his orgasm, realizing that a lot had leaked out. Sasuke breathed heavily, his cock still hard, despite orgasming. "Damnit!" Sasuke cursed once again as he saw his cum leaking around the edges of Naruto's entrance. He took his fingers and began to push the cum that had landed on Naruto's inner thighs and his butt cheeks and push it inside Naruto's entrance. "Go in," Sasuke muttered to himself as he used his cum soaked fingers to help shove some of the cum into Naruto.

"In!" Sasuke hissed as he actually put two of his fingers inside of Naruto, pushing his cum inside. "Go in," Sasuke said again, thrusting his fingers roughly inside of Naruto. He repeated the process and began to probe his fingers inside of Naruto, this time, actually thrusting his fingers deeper and deeper into Naruto, feeling rather turned on by the way that his fingers were squeezed in Naruto's ass, and Sasuke unconsciously began to stroke himself again.

"Nnn," Naruto moaned huskily and his body jerked backward. Sasuke's fingers slipped inside of Naruto deeper as Naruto's body moved and Sasuke suddenly removed his hand from himself as he realized he'd been jerking off. Sasuke's eyes shot to Naruto's face, noting that Naruto's eyes were still glazed over, lost in another reality, yet somehow his body was reacting to what was going on. When Sasuke's hand stilled, Naruto thrust himself onto Sasuke's fingers again and moaned even more loudly.

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered in wonder as he began to stroke Naruto's insides again. He thrust his fingers inside of Naruto, but this time, he didn't bother lapping up more of his now drying cum but just relished in the way that Naruto's body reacted to what he did.

"Unnh," Naruto moaned yet again, and Sasuke began to thrust his fingers inside of Naruto as deep as he could go, his two fingers moving in and out of Naruto's body rapidly. Naruto unconsciously rocked his hips against the bed, and Sasuke could tell that Naruto was trying to create friction for his penis and was trying to get off.

Sasuke pulled his fingers out of Naruto and quickly grabbed the lube again. He messily squirted some all over his penis and then poured some into Naruto's ass crack. He gave himself a few jerking shakes with his hand before pressing the tip of his head to Naruto's entrance. Naruto had gone still the moment that Sasuke's hand had left Naruto's body, but Naruto's body seemed to come alive again as Sasuke's cock touched him.

Sasuke couldn't remember ever feeling hornier or wilder as he pressed his head against Naruto's entrance. The muscles around Naruto seemed to press against him, pushing and pulling at him as he thrust into Naruto. Sasuke gasped as Naruto's insides tightened around him as though trying to push him back out. Naruto moaned and began to thrust backwards and Sasuke was forced all the way inside of Naruto.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out as he pulled himself partially out before pushing back inside again. The feeling was utter bliss, utter ecstasy; ten times better than his own hand, and Sasuke lost himself. Being inside of Naruto was no longer about a mission, but the fact that it felt so good, felt so blissful. He felt so _whole_. Thoughts weren't coherent in Sasuke's mind as he began to roughly move inside of Naruto with Naruto's body so turned on that he was responding and moving back.

"Yes, yes," Sasuke said, unable to contain himself, words fleeing from the usually quiet man as he thrust harder and deeper inside of Naruto, feeling the way that Naruto's body returned his pleasured torture. He bucked his hips harder, his whole body pressing against Naruto, sweat glistening off of his skin as his skin began to slap against Naruto's. "Yes, yes, yes!" Sasuke cried, losing himself to the feeling as his body shook, and he once again orgasmed. He slammed into Naruto as his body jerked at his second release, some more sperm leaking out, though not as much as his first orgasm. Naruto groaned and rocked his hips backwards and forwards as though lost between the feeling of being entered from behind and from the feeling of wanting his cock to be pleasured as well. As Sasuke came down from his natural high, he wrapped his hands around Naruto's body, pulled him away from the bed, and grasped Naruto's cock. He helped pump Naruto to his own release, and Naruto moaned loudly, his body shaking as Sasuke felt Naruto's semen spill over his hand as he came.

As soon as the last of Naruto's cum came from his body, he slouched forward, as though unable to do any more. Sasuke took deep breaths as Naruto's full weight fell against him. He laid Naruto down on the bed stomach down to allow the cum to soak in. Sasuke looked around him, his rationality finally catching up with him.

Sasuke took deep breaths to control his breathing, calming down as he realized what he had done. He looked at Naruto, still trapped in his genjutsu, seemingly unaware of anything. There was no denying that he hadn't enjoyed what he had done to Naruto. He bit his lip, wondering how he could have lost such control when his eyes landed on the parchment that held the "instructions" on them. His face darkened as he read them.

_Uchiha,_

_Perhaps you haven't realized it yet, but I have; you're attracted to Naruto. Those pills I gave you stimulated stronger emotions, not sexual ones. If you've done what I think you will have done to Naruto, it's all on you. Besides, we both know that Naruto would be pissed if it were anyone but you. Quite frankly, I think you would be even more pissed if it were anyone but you. Try not to hurt him._

_Tell him how much you care about him. I think he feels the same._

_Lady Tsunade_

"Old hag," Sasuke hissed out angrily. Wasn't she supposed to care if he fucked Naruto like an animal in heat? He read the letter again, and closed his eyes. He knew why she had come to him. It hadn't just been because that Naruto considered him his best friend; it was because she knew that he would want to do it, and he wouldn't want anyone else to do it.

His body felt too good to want to do anything, but his rationale told him that he needed to get rid of any evidence of what had transpired between them. He cleaned up Naruto; the first of many times to come.

END FLASHBACK

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, and stroked his hair. He had lost his chance with Naruto when Naruto had started going out with Sakura. He hated himself for his stupidity. Sasuke closed his eyes, rubbing at them again as he thought. He would tell Naruto. He had to. He couldn't strain his sharingan like this any more or else he would end up going blind.

The question was, how did he tell Naruto, and how would he explain it to Sakura?

* * *

Next Chapter: Almost

AN: There is no endocrine gland currently associated with the root chakra point, but considering that its "center is located in the region between the genitals and the anus," I think that using the prostate (and the "re-discovery" of the female prostate in the past seven years) could be the unnamed gland. For more information about chakra go to www . crystalinks. com/chakras . html. (delete the spaces) It also has pictures too:-) Also, for more info on the female prostate, here are several links (delete the spaces): http :// www . the-clitoris. com/fhtml/ ejacula . htm and http :// www . smh. com .au/articles/2002/10/05/1033538781155 . html.

Let me know what you thought, and leave your e-mail or a way to get back to you if you have any questions. - Jelp


	5. Chapter 5: Something's Up

Before I get yelled at for updating this twice before Identity Crisis, don't worry; I'm working on that fic too. It's just I haven't been able to get much time to write recently, and I already had a part of this chapter written awhile ago since I don't always write everything in order. I actually already have part of the next chapter written out from before I finished writing chapter three, so there might be another chapter on this out before Identity Crisis. And now - on to the story:-)

**Mine**

**Chapter 5: Something's Up**

Sakura shook her head, feeling as though a veil had lifted from her eyes. She put a hand to her head and gently massaged her temples.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked her, concerned. Sakura blinked, and looked at him.

"I just felt like we got back here all of a rush from Ichiraku ramen," Sakura said slowly, her mind trying to catch up with herself. "My head aches from something."

"Sakura-chan, you need to just lighten your load at the hospital, and take it easy," Naruto said, smiling at her. Sakura smiled back, thinking that if she had tried to tell Naruto to cut back on his duties, that he would flat out refuse to do so.

"Hmm, perhaps, but you and I should spend some more time together if I have more free time," Sakura said, smiling widely at him.

"Sounds good to me!" Naruto chirped happily.

Outside of the small house where Sakura and Naruto called home, Sasuke stood with his back pressed against the wall, his head near the window but out of sight as he listened to their conversation. It seemed that Sakura had been slightly confused upon waking from his sharingan genjutsu, but it hadn't caused problems. He rubbed at his eyes deciding that he would need to go home to rest and then think of how he was going to tell Naruto about what had been going on for the past three years.

It would take some careful thought on his part of what to say, how to say it, and when to say it to reveal to Naruto the truth. Sasuke had been half tempted to explain to Naruto his predicament by having Naruto wake-up cradled in his arms, but he wasn't sure that Naruto would like that so much. It was a little bit too vulnerable, and Sasuke knew that Naruto would not like being reminded that Sasuke's sharingan could so easily over power him when Naruto wasn't trying to defend himself. Sasuke was also wary that Naruto wouldn't want to see him any more before he got his entire explanation out. His sharingan would only go so far to capture Naruto to force him to be compliant. At the moment, Sasuke was banking on Naruto's trust. Naruto was a skilled ninja, and if he expected Sasuke to use his sharingan, Sasuke feared Naruto would be able to stop him from placing him in any more genjutsu since he'd always be on edge. To think that Naruto was so at ease with him, to think that Naruto trusted Sasuke enough to not even guess that Sasuke would ever abuse his sharingan on him, made Sasuke feel ever so slightly shamed.

Upon returning to his home, Sasuke rubbed at his eyes again, blinking them as he cursed softly to himself. His vision swam slightly in and out of focus. Having a blood limit eye technique had its perks, but it also had its downfalls: one of the sharingan's being its tendency to cause blindness. Even his brother had suffered the same ailment.

The idea that he had anything in common with his brother, even if just blindness, disgusted him, and he stormed upstairs to his bed - his room still smelling slightly of sex from earlier - to lie down. Sasuke lied down on his bed, and closed his eyes to try and go to sleep, but it didn't help. Sasuke often had trouble sleeping, and laying in a room the scent of having sex had not yet disappeared did not help him relax. A few minutes later, the smell of sex seemed to become stronger rather than lesser, and he found himself becoming aroused again. Without bothering to open his eyes, Sasuke slipped his hand inside his pants, massaging himself, imagining it was Naruto's hand wrapped warmly around his shaft...

* * *

The moonlight outside of the Uzumaki household filtered in through a small window, illuminating two people. One slept peacefully, the other was wide-awake. It was pretty obvious to Naruto that he was not going to be able to sleep tonight with all that he had on his mind. 

Naruto groaned, and sat up in bed. His return home from Wave country had been awkward. To see both Sakura and Sasuke waiting to greet him on his way home had been odd. They had both said that they had wanted to see him, but they both had had slightly guilty faces while waiting for him. They seemed to tense when he had said something to catch their attention, and he had the distinct feeling that they had been talking about him before he had gotten there. Sasuke's bizarre behavior to then not come with them and meditate in the middle of the road had raised some warning bells in Naruto's mind. Sakura hadn't even seemed to find anything odd about the situation, and Naruto knew that his wife was very intelligent; she would surely have said something about the odd behavior, so Naruto could only concluded that Sakura was purposefully not saying anything to him. And then Sakura's insistence to go to their home to make love had been - _strange_.

Not that he would ever turn down sex, but something about her insistence had made him sure that something odd was up. She was hiding something, and Naruto knew it. The question was: was Sasuke hiding something as well? And if so, what and why?

Naruto tore the covers off of himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He propped his elbows on his knees, and put his head in his hands to think. He knew he wasn't the smartest guy around, but he wasn't oblivious either. Something was up.

Sighing in frustration after a few minutes of thought that led nowhere, Naruto got up and began to pace his room, his bare feet padding across the carpet. He stopped his pacing after another few minutes of fruitless thoughts as to what might be up. Naruto looked over towards his wife, as though just by looking at her he would be able to get his questions answered. The small amount of light from the window made Sakura just visible underneath the covers, her chest breathing slowly in slumber, yet still not answers came to him.

He was half a mind to wake her up, to ask what was going on. His thoughts chased each other, and the more he thought, the more he had this strange feeling that Sakura and Sasuke were having an affair behind his back. He clenched his fists. It was the only thing that he could think of, but something about that didn't feel right. Firstly, he felt as though he were missing some key piece of information to make that conclusion fully, and secondly, he just couldn't see either one ever doing anything to hurt him like that.

Sasuke had had his chance with Sakura, and Naruto was pretty sure his feelings for Sakura hadn't changed. And Sakura genuinely seemed happy with him. Naruto knew he was a good husband, damnit, so that didn't make sense either. Unless he had some other question to ask her, Naruto didn't feel justified waking Sakura up to ask her if she and Sasuke were having an affair, especially since she had seemed to have a headache earlier; probably from all her work at the hospital - or from keeping the secret she and Sasuke seemed to share. Naruto shook his head, trying not to think like that. He knew he needed answers tonight or else he wouldn't sleep and the ideas that would come to him would only get worse. Dressing quickly, Naruto decided to see if Sasuke, being a semi-insomniac, was up, and ask him questions.

Leaving his house, Naruto's anxiety only intensified. More and more thoughts seemed to manifest themselves, none of them good. Had Sakura just wanted to have sex with him because she had felt guilty about thinking that about Sasuke instead of him? Why had Sasuke not come with them to Ichiraku ramen? Did he really want to spend time with Naruto – or had just wanted to see Sakura? Had something happened between the two of them when he had left early on the morning he went off to Wave country? Had the two of them talked without him there? That usually didn't happen, but Sasuke hadn't left the house right after him, now that he thought of it. All of them had been teammates, and they were allowed to talk to each other. Still, Naruto was jealous. He was jealous that their attentions seemed to be on each other rather than on him.

Naruto had fought for years to get Sasuke to recognize him. If Sasuke went behind his back, it was as though he implied that Naruto was beneath him. Naruto had likewise fought for Sakura's affections for so long. Had she started to change her mind? Naruto clenched and unclenched his fists, grinding his teeth, as he fought the tears that sprang to his eyes. He felt foolish for mistrusting them both, and he quickened his pace all the more to get to Sasuke's house to get his questions answered – or to spar with Sasuke to at least alleviate his frustration.

The funny thing about most shinobi is that doors don't seem as appealing any more after learning the ability of how to climb roofs and use chakra to stick to the side of buildings. Naruto, of course, shared the belief that windows were a much faster means of entering a place, and so that was why he found himself standing on the windowsill to Sasuke's bedroom. Before he and Sakura had started dating, he used to come visit Sasuke randomly just to make sure that he was doing okay. He didn't want his friend to slip into another one of his isolated emotional states like when he first returned to Konoha and had often come into Sasuke's house this way.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself before entering just in case he started yelling right away. As much as he would like to yell at Sasuke, he wasn't even sure if he had anything to be angry about. Naruto knew it wouldn't be fair of him to yell at Sasuke or Sakura without talking to them first. Smiling wryly, Naruto decided if he didn't get the answers he liked, _then_ he would start yelling and fighting to get answers.

Naruto knocked on the window. He frowned when Sasuke didn't answer. He tried opening the window only to find it locked. "Bastard. Who locks their windows anymore?" Naruto asked. He pressed his face up against the glass, peering inside the dark room. By squinting his eyes he could make out Sasuke lying on the bed, his chest moving slowly. Naruto frowned even more when seeing Sasuke's ever pale skin seem to be even more pale than normal, the contrast to his hair and to the dark sheets evident even despite the poor light.

Tapping his finger lightly on the glass of the window, Naruto sighed, wondering what he should do. He knew that Sasuke needed sleep when he got it, and he knew that Sakura needed the sleep, but damnit, he was tired too and he needed to talk to someone so that he could get to sleep. Naruto tapped his finger some more in thought, just coming to the conclusion that they were shinobi, and that they should all be able to go without sleep (despite the fact that he himself was trying to avoid losing sleep) when the window suddenly slid open.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk as he watched Sasuke wipe at his eyes tiredly. It was one of those things about Sasuke that had always amused him; Sasuke did not like to be woken up.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, looking around him as though a problem was trailing behind after Naruto.

"Couldn't sleep," Naruto said as he slipped in through the open window. "Needed to talk to someone," Naruto explained. He walked over to Sasuke's bed and flopped himself down, making himself comfortable in the warm spot that Sasuke had just occupied. Naruto looked up at Sasuke expectantly, expecting some sort of remark about why he would wake him up at such an indecent hour, or about why he was now lying down on Sasuke's bed. Naruto wanted to yell at someone or something, and needed a justifiable reason. Surely Sasuke would yell at him first for waking him up and lying in his nice, warm bed. Naruto could always count on Sasuke's and his spars - verbal or otherwise - to relieve any anxiety he felt. However, instead of Sasuke yelling at him, Naruto was surprised to see Sasuke's face an emotionless mask, staring at him lying on his bed. Naruto began to feel slightly uncomfortable when Sasuke didn't say anything, and just stared at him. "Geeze," Naruto muttered to himself as he moved out of the spot that Sasuke had been in. "Your bed's huge. Don't you know how to share?" Naruto asked as he scooted over, slightly annoyed that he had been unable to bait Sasuke into an argument. Sasuke really knew how to use his eyes to make people feel uncomfortable, and Naruto didn't want to be made to feel uncomfortable right now. He wanted answers or a way to get his anxiety out of his system.

"Why, are you here, lying on my bed?" Sasuke asked quietly. Naruto looked at Sasuke again. There was something in Sasuke's tone that seemed strangely tormented, as though lying on Sasuke's bed was somehow putting Sasuke through some excruciating agony. Naruto had planned on bugging Sasuke for a while, but decided that with the way Sasuke was looking at him, now wasn't a good time for it.

"I'm tired from my mission, but all I can think about is you," Sasuke's eyes flashed red for a moment, "and Sakura." The momentary flash of red died just as quickly, and Naruto sat up on Sasuke's bed. "I can tell there's something going on. I thought about waking Sakura up, but she's been getting all the late shifts at the hospital the past couple of weeks. I thought you'd be up anyway, and I could talk to you. What's going on? Something's up between the two of you," Naruto said accusatorily to Sasuke. Sasuke shook his head and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I'm surprised to see you here so late," Sasuke said, not answering Naruto's question.

"I used to come over all the time before Sakura and I got married, remember?" Naruto said, somewhat hurt that Sasuke didn't seem to remember that.

"I remember every visit," Sasuke said quietly.

"Er, right," Naruto said, wondering why that sounded so creepy, and if it was actually true that Sasuke remembered every visit. Then again, Sasuke did have the sharingan so maybe he had really good recall? "Listen, I know you and Sakura wouldn't, but I just have to ask because the way the two of you were acting early. You two aren't going behind my back or anything, are you?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke's face went blank again, and Naruto almost gulped. He knew that look, and he knew he had just pissed off his friend, but part of him was glad. Just an angry reaction instead of a guilty one meant that there really was nothing going on.

"Never have I, nor will I ever go behind your back in a relationship with Sakura," Sasuke said in a very unemotional voice. It sent chills down Naruto's spine. He hated when Sasuke seemed to shut down emotionally because it always reminded him of when Sasuke had returned to Konoha. Naruto had spent years of his life trying to get his best friend back, and then to have him return and shut down – Naruto had felt even more helpless than when he was trying to bring him back.

"I know, I know. Stupid question," Naruto said, but it made him feel better nevertheless. It felt as though a weight had lifted from his shoulders. "Just this weird nagging feeling that wouldn't go away." Naruto said, yawning as he stretched and made himself comfortable on Sasuke's bed as his thoughts finally calmed down. If Sasuke said it wasn't so, then it wasn't so. Naruto felt more at ease as he stretched and pulled Sasuke's sheet over him.

"Comfortable?" Sasuke asked raising an eyebrow.

"Real tired all of a sudden. And you're bed _is_ comfortable," Naruto murmured, his body feeling suddenly heavy. He closed his eyes sleepily...

"Naruto?" Sasuke said, walking over closer to his bed. He stood staring at Naruto who was lying on his bed _fast asleep_. "Naruto?" Sasuke growled again, but still no response. Sasuke balled and unballed his fists. He had finally just gotten to sleep when he heard a tapping noise on his window. He had woken up again, looking at his clock, realizing that he must have fallen asleep for less than ten minutes. Sasuke had been watching his clock tick by meticulously, and there was a ten minute gap of time from when he awoke and from when he last recalled looking at the clock. He really hated being woken up, but he'd been surprised, to say the least, to see Naruto standing on his windowsill looking as though he was pondering how to get into his bedroom.

Who was Sasuke to deny Naruto a chance to willingly come into his bedroom? He had quickly grabbed a robe to cover the fact that he slept naked and opened the window to see what Naruto had wanted. He hadn't expected Naruto to come into his bedroom, much less expected him to then _lie down_ on _his_ bed. Sasuke's heart had sped up when Naruto had said that he couldn't stop thinking about him that he almost hadn't heard Naruto add Sakura's name as well. His hopes died instantly realizing that of course Naruto came to talk about Sakura. He knew Sakura was Naruto's wife. He knew that. Yet why did he still feel as though Naruto were the one cheating on him instead of him being the other person?

Watching Naruto find instantaneous relief at his words had been somewhat comforting. Seeing Naruto then fall almost as instantaneously asleep on his bed had been less...comfortable. For some reason, his penis seemed to connect an unconscious Naruto with sex. And Naruto was on his bed to boot. Why was it always so erotic seeing Naruto on his bed? Was it because their first time had been here? Was it because his room and his bed were things in the Uchiha complex that felt untainted from his murdered family?

Sasuke contented himself to just watch Naruto sleep - to _really_ sleep. Not forced sleep, but actual sleep. He seemed so different somehow. His mouth was opened slightly, and Sasuke had the urge to kiss Naruto's lips and slip his tongue in to Naruto's mouth to close the gap.

He was sure _that_ would be a great conversation starter on to the fact that Sasuke had been screwing Naruto for about three years. Sasuke disrobed again, his cock hard. He gave himself a few slow strokes just to do something with his hands before walking over to his dresser to find some pajama bottoms. Slowly he climbed into bed next to Naruto, feeling on edge. He had slept next to Naruto numerous times after sex, but never before had he slept so intimately next to Naruto while there was a chance that Naruto would wake up. Sasuke felt daring. So what if he accidentally groped Naruto in his sleep? He was going to tell Naruto soon anyway. He might as well enjoy what little chances he had left. Besides, Sasuke sincerely doubted he'd fall asleep again tonight anyway.

Despite not thinking that he would be able to sleep with Naruto lying next to him, it was only a few minutes later when Sasuke too drifted off to sleep...

* * *

Sakura awoke feeling colder than usual. She opened her eyes sleepily and noticed the time on the clock and grumbled. She inched back on the bed, expecting to run into her normal source of warmth aka Naruto, only to find herself scooting up next to nothing. 

"Naruto?" Sakura asked blearily, still partly asleep. She turned around, her hand reaching out blindly in the dark to where Naruto should be, only to connect with cold sheets.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked again. She propped herself up and looked around. A quick glance of the room told her that he wasn't there, and a few moments of adjusting to being awake let her know that she couldn't feel Naruto's chakra anywhere nearby either. Sakura bit her lip, wondering if Sasuke had taken Naruto away from her as she slept, but decided against that thought. He would have had to wake Naruto up to make eye contact with Naruto to use the sharingan. Surely Naruto would have made enough noise being rudely woken up, right? But Sakura doubted this thought a moment later. She hadn't woken up when Naruto had left the bed, so it was very possible Sakura could have missed Sasuke sneaking into her home and waking Naruto up. Sakura hastily dressed and headed towards the Uchiha complex.

Like Naruto had just an hour before, Sakura sat perched on Sasuke's window, peering in at the bedroom. Sakura felt her breath catch, and a cold weight settle throughout her entire body as she saw Sasuke holding Naruto in an endearing embrace.

Yet why couldn't she feel anger right now? She couldn't quite put into words the feelings it gave her to see her Naruto with Sasuke. Sakura knew without a doubt that Naruto loved her. Yet why, _why_ did it seem like _she'd_ be doing Naruto an injustice to keep him from Sasuke?

What was she thinking? Naruto was her husband!

Sasuke and Naruto woke to the screeching of wood splitting open.

"Wairzeattack?" Naruto said sleepily as he rolled off the bed, pounced to his feet and looked around him. Sasuke laid in bed, glaring right at Sakura, having quickly assessed the situation. She glared right back.

"So sorry," Sakura said smiling sweetly as she slipped through the window she had splintered apart on the right side. "Guess it was locked."

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Sakura turned her glaring eyes from Sasuke to look at Naruto. She had expected Sasuke to ask her that question, not Naruto.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Sakura asked of Naruto.

"I couldn't sleep. Thinking too much. I didn't want to wake you since you had a headache early. Sasuke-bastard's a part insomniac, so I figured I would pester him instead," Naruto said. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess I fell asleep though. His bed is soooo comfy," Naruto smiled at Sakura apologetically for obviously making her worry. "Sakura-chaaaaaan, can we get a bed like Sasuke's? Try it!" Naruto said as he flung himself back onto the bed.

Sasuke wasn't sure whether to be more angry or amused at the current situation. He was angry because Sakura had literally broken into his home, and now Naruto was showcasing off his bed as though he weren't there lying in it. He was also amused for the exact same reasons.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm not here. Go right on ahead to do your bed shopping in my house," Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto turned his head from where he had been lying face down to grin widely at Sasuke.

"This is a new bed since I've slept here last," Naruto said as he looked at the bed. Sasuke mused to himself that since Naruto had been sleeping in his bed earlier that day that no, that wasn't the case. He would have to tell him that later though. "Why did you get a new bed Sasuke? You only had the other one a few years," Naruto said. Sasuke also decided that he wouldn't tell Naruto that the reason he had gotten a new bed because they had broken the other one last month when Sasuke had been a little too exuberant to fulfill his mission.

"Wanted one," Sasuke said. It was true. He wanted a new bed since his old one had broken. Sleeping on a couch or the floor wasn't fun.

"_Naruto_," Sakura hissed.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I was worried about you," Sakura said, and even Sasuke felt slightly guilty at the truly concerned and abandoned look Sakura wore. Naruto rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

"Sorry. Uhhh, I guess we should get going?" Naruto said. Sakura crossed her arms and nodded.

"My window," Sasuke hissed at Sakura, reminding her she had broken the wood paneling on the side as she had gotten in. There'd definitely be a draft. Without a word, Sakura gripped the dangling piece of wood and rammed it back into place with her monstrous strength.

"Better?" Sakura asked, not bothering to keep her tone sweet. Her accusatory glare also told Sasuke that Sakura didn't believe Naruto's story about coming to see him, clearly thinking Sasuke had had a hand in Naruto's disappearance.

"Much better. Naruto," Sasuke turned to look at Naruto as he spoke, purposefully moving his body to exclude Sakura from the conversation, "if you ever need to talk again, I'm here." Naruto nodded slowly looking back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura.

"Is everything alright between you two?" Naruto asked, his tone now slightly miffed.

"Fine," they answered a little too hastily and in unison. Naruto made a sound of his disbelief.

"I'm going home. I'm tired," Naruto said, deciding to drop questioning the two of them – for the moment. He glanced at Sasuke and then at Sakura before walking out of Sasuke's bedroom, Sakura glaring at Sasuke before following Naruto.

Sasuke shook his head. It had been a bizarre night. First Naruto had come to him thinking he and Sakura where having an affair. Second Naruto had willingly slept in his bed. Third Sakura broke his window to get to Naruto. Fourth, and this was the most disturbing, Naruto clearly knew something was up. Sasuke knew he would need to get a move on quickly to tell Naruto – before Sakura did.

**Next Chapter: The Truth**

Reviews greatly appreciated, especially during finals week. - Jelp


	6. Chapter 6: The Truth

Hello. If there is any point and time you find during this chapter to seem more wordy than normal, I place the blame on my friend, lL0tus, for making me make the chapter longer. She's scary!

**Mine**

**Chapter 6: The Truth**

Sasuke realized telling Naruto anything was going to be difficult if he couldn't even get a hold of his blond haired friend.

For three weeks straight Sasuke had been trying to get Naruto alone to talk with him since he had decided to tell Naruto about the past three years. So far he had been unsuccessful. It was beyond frustrating. His emotions had gone from ecstatic to miserable in a matter of days. Sasuke had been in his own mini euphoric world for all of twenty-four hours after Naruto had actually sought him in the middle of the night. Naruto had come to _him_. He had enjoyed Naruto actually coming to _him_ instead of Sakura to ease his pain, but it had cost him. Yet just a few days after that, Sasuke had quickly realized that getting Naruto on his own with Sakura on such high-alerts was nigh impossible.

Sakura had somehow managed to make it impossible to be around Naruto one on one. She was always _there_, and every time that Sasuke tried to suggest doing something with just the two of them, Sakura "reminded" Naruto that he had other things to do. It was frustrating because half of the time, Naruto clearly didn't remember that he was "supposed" to be doing something, and instead blindly trusting Sakura's word. Though Sasuke knew he was a hypocrite for thinking it, he hated how she played on Naruto's trust to get him to do what she wanted him to do.

"I mustn't strangle her because Naruto might not forgive me for that," Sasuke hissed to himself as he entered his house after _another_ failed attempt to get Naruto alone, nearly slamming the door behind him.

How was he supposed to confess everything to Naruto with Sakura hovering over him all the time? Not to mention the worst part about it was how she was acting with them. She seemed completely and utterly non-phased when he was over. She seemed to have no problem allowing Sasuke as much time as he wanted to spend with Naruto as long as she was there too. Strangely, it was how Sasuke had felt when Sakura and Naruto first started dating. It hadn't been so bad to see Naruto and Sakura together, as long as he was there to know they weren't doing more. As long as he could be around Naruto, knowing that Naruto wanted him there it had made all the difference. He wondered if that was how Sakura was feeling now.

Sasuke clearly remembered the night that Sakura had found out that he and Naruto were involved, and how Sakura had claimed to own Naruto's heart. The fact that she knew that little fact began to haunt Sasuke more than it had in the past. It was as if she had come to accept that it was almost okay that Sasuke was after Naruto because she was confident that Naruto would chose her over him. She still was clearly trying to prevent Sasuke from being with Naruto (probably because she felt she was protecting Naruto in the long run), but it made Sasuke's fears all that more prominent as he wondered if Naruto really would chose Sakura over him. It was a terrible pain to face. He was conflicted with so many emotions and choices all at once. He wanted Naruto to be happy, but he wanted to be happy as well. Sasuke desperately _needed_ Naruto. He had come to depend on the idea that he was the only one to be able to save his friend's life; it was something that he clung to in order to get through each day.

He loved him.

Sasuke sighed. Knowing that Naruto needed _him_ to live (instead of Sakura) was the only thing that kept Sasuke sane. Sasuke closed his eyes, wondering what would have become of him if Tsunade hadn't approached him, telling him the bizarre and outrageous circumstances of how he had to "save" Naruto's life three years ago. Sasuke was pretty sure that being told that he was the one in charge of keeping Naruto alive had kept him alive as well. Suicide had been quite a tempting offer at the point and time in his life. Still, Sasuke couldn't run from his fears any more. Even if Naruto rejected his heart, the selfish part of Sasuke knew that Naruto still needed him to live.

Sasuke had finally mustered up the courage to face his fears. He had run from bonds for so long. Killing Itachi hadn't solved his fear of bonds with others. And he did indeed fear the bond that he and Naruto had. He had tried severing it before. Naruto hadn't let him. He kept grasping at that hope that Naruto wouldn't sever their bond now either. It was this one ray of hope that he had.

Part of him idly wondered if the reason he was trying so hard to finally tell Naruto what was going on was because Sakura was making it difficult for him to do so. In some ways, he had a feeling that if she was not so obstinate about allowing him to be alone with Naruto, he might not be pursuing the matter. It was as if she had told him he couldn't, and he was trying to prove her wrong. He knew that wasn't a good reason to want to tell Naruto. Sasuke should want to tell Naruto of his own accord without any outside influences trying to (inadvertently) egg him on. Still, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise.

Sasuke rubbed at his eyes as the room before him suddenly seemed to grow darker as spots began to invade his vision. Sasuke reached his hand out to steady himself against his doorframe, closing his eyes as he saw brightly colored spots dance in front of his eyes set against the blackness of his eyelids.

And of course there was a more pressing matter that helped make Sasuke want to tell Naruto sooner rather than later. Sasuke had a sneaking suspicion using his sharingan so much was slowly causing him to go blind. Using it on so many people to drag Naruto out of Ichiraku Ramen had cost him dearly. It had been reckless.

He would have to tell Naruto soon - for his own sake as well. Constantly using the sharingan for such a long period of time was affecting his eyesight. He shouldn't have used the sharingan like he had to make Naruto compliant - and not just for moral reasons. Sasuke shook his head. He would gladly go blind in order to make sure that Naruto lived, but if his blindness made it so that he could no longer save Naruto by making Naruto be compliant, what purpose did he have? Sasuke slowly opened his eyes, noting that his entire room seemed somehow darker.

Part of Sasuke wanted to just use his sharingan to steal Naruto away from Sakura yet again, but he knew he didn't have much longer that he could do that. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if the next time he used his sharingan if he would go blind. He doubted it, but he still wouldn't be surprised.

Sasuke made up his mind. Tomorrow he would need to go to talk with Sakura first, to tell her that he needed to speak with Naruto on his own. And if not, well, he supposed that he would just have to tell Naruto everything, even with Sakura in the room. Time was running out. Sasuke could practically hear the clock ticking away the time before he would need to tell Naruto.

The clock seemed to tick all the more quickly when Sasuke realized that three weeks had gone by since he had last helped to balance Naruto's chakra. He would have to do it again soon. Sasuke refused to think of the consequences otherwise.

* * *

Sakura's body stiffened as she sensed Sasuke's chakra at the door. Naruto wasn't here, so that was good since the only reason Sasuke would be here was to look for Naruto.

"When's Naruto going to get home?" Sasuke asked Sakura, not having even bothered to knock as he came in.

"That's none of your business," Sakura said, keeping her tone calm.

"I need to speak with him," Sasuke said, his voice just as calm. It irked Sakura, and she snorted at his comment.

"As though I believe that that's all you want from him," Sakura said, her voice still calm, but her hands began to shake nonetheless.

"I mean it. I just want to speak with him. But actually, I wanted to talk to you first," Sasuke said quietly. Sakura, who had refused to look directly at Sasuke as he had waltzed into her living room, slowly looked at him now. He seemed to sincerely have meant that he wanted to talk to her, and to Naruto too for that matter. He might even mean it. Still, it didn't mean that Sakura was going to let Sasuke continue to hurt her husband any more.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" Sakura asked warily.

"I need to speak with Naruto in private. I don't want you to interfere with our conversation. Stop making him think he's got things to do instead of speaking with me," Sasuke said evenly.

"You can talk to him when I'm here," Sakura said, holding Sasuke's gaze.

"Obviously I need to talk to him _alone_," Sasuke snapped angrily, finally giving way to his frustration.

"You've clearly proven that you can't be trusted with him alone. If you really care about Naruto, do him a favor and stop hurting him!" Sakura yelled.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. Naruto needs me. I'm actually worth something to him, and only I can truly understand what he needs," Sasuke hissed angrily.

"You're worth nothing to him if you keep hurting him. Why won't you just leave him alone? He's mine! He's my husband! I will take care of what he needs," Sakura said angrily.

"And he's my best friend, and I am his. I'm his most important person, not you," Sasuke said, the words tumbling out. His face was set in utter defiance, and he took a step forward, making Sakura back up closer to the wall. If the intensity of his look was not so terrifying, he might have seemed like a selfish child fighting over his favorite toy. But Naruto was not a toy to Sasuke. Naruto was so much more than anything else in Sasuke's life.

"I'm going to tell him what you do to him. That should stop you," Sakura said slowly. She had finally come to the decision that she had to tell Naruto. Sasuke had to stop. He couldn't continue to rape her beloved any more.

"You wouldn't dare," Sasuke hissed, his arms flying out and gripping Sakura's arms to prevent her from trying to punch him with her brutish strength.

"I can't watch you do this to him. _Best friend_," Sakura sneered. "You don't know what a friend is, and you certainly don't deserve Naruto," Sakura hissed lowly, wondering how she had ever had feelings for Sasuke, for this self-centered man. Sasuke glared furiously at Sakura.

"You don't know what you're talking about. I should be the one to-"

"What the hell is going on?"

Sasuke and Sakura both turned their heads in unison as they saw Naruto standing in the doorway staring at them with a mixture of shock and trepidation on his face. Sasuke quickly released his grip on Sakura and sprung away from her.

"Naruto-" Sasuke began.

"It's not what it looks like!" Sakura said quickly, seeing the look of betrayal on Naruto's face.

"Well it sure looks like Sasuke was forcing you up against the wall," Naruto said angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists. "You two look flushed as though you were just," Naruto nearly choked on his words, "making out." Sasuke and Sakura were both furious with themselves that they had been so intent on their argument that they hadn't heard Naruto come home. Of course, they were both even more furious with each other than at themselves.

"I don't, nor have I _ever_ wanted Sakura in that way. You know that," Sasuke said, his voice low as he made sure to lock eye contact with Naruto. Naruto gazed back, but his face was contorted with anger and hurt.

"Something's going on here. I'm not stupid. You two have been going behind my back about something for weeks now. Why won't either of you tell me what's going on?" Naruto pleaded. Sasuke looked away. Naruto narrowed his eyes, focusing all of his attention on Sasuke who seemed to have shut down, an obvious sign to Naruto that he was hiding something. Sakura clutched her hands together, biting her lip, wanting to say something, but somehow suddenly feeling like she was butting into something private between the two. She hated the feeling of her own husband thinking that she was cheating on her when everything was all of Sasuke's doing.

"I have to get going," Sasuke said as he turned to leave. He walked past Sakura coldly, but as he passed Naruto, Naruto reached out and gripped his arm.

"What's going on?" Naruto demanded, glaring at Sasuke. Sasuke said nothing for a few minutes.

"Meet me later – without Sakura," Sasuke said emotionlessly, as he wrenched his arm out of Naruto's grasp before striding past Naruto who called out for him to stop. Sasuke strode through the door without looking back. Naruto watched him go before turning his gaze on Sakura. "What's going on between you two?" Naruto demanded, the accusatory tone clear in his voice. Sakura held her head high and tried to fight back tears. It hurt. It hurt that Naruto thought that she might be cheating on him with Sasuke, but sadly she could understand his fears. She had foolishly pined after Sasuke for so long after all.

"Sit down," Sakura said, reaching out to her husband and grasping his wrist gently. His eyes softened at her gentle contact, and he came with her obediently, sitting down next to her on their couch.

Sakura placed her hands lightly on her knees, looking away from Naruto, but knowing that she would need to look at him to tell him. She didn't want to make eye contact, but she needed to see how he would react to what she said.

"I-I should have told you when I first found out," Sakura said, her anger at Sasuke depleting ever so slightly as her own guilt filled her. "Do you remember that night – that night that I returned home from a mission and you were already in bed, and I was stroking your hair?" Sakura asked. Naruto looked at her confused, clearly unsure as to why she was bringing it up now.

"Yes. You seemed upset," Naruto said shortly.

"Do you – do you remember why you went to bed so early?" Sakura asked, her voice catching. She had always wondered what Sasuke did to Naruto's mind to account for the time he missed.

"Yeah," Naruto said curtly. Sakura bit her lip; not the exact answer she had been hoping for, and so she prompted him further for an actual explanation.

"Wh-why did you go to bed so early?" Sakura asked.

"Sasuke and I had been sparring. We came back, got a cup of tea, he left, and I was really exhausted after our fight that I just decided to go to bed," Naruto said. "What does this have to do with what is going on with you and Sasuke?" Naruto asked not to be deterred. Sakura looked off to the side grasping at her knees, wondering how to voice Sasuke's betrayal. She wanted Sasuke to stop abusing Naruto's body, but she would rather take a kunai to her gut than tell Naruto of Sasuke's betrayal yet _again_.

"It's hard to explain," Sakura began, but no other words would come out. Naruto looked at her, waiting, but when she didn't speak for another minute, he got up angrily and walked to the door. "No, wait! Where are you going?" Sakura asked frantically, springing to her feet as Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned around and glared back at her. Sakura felt cold looking into his eyes. He knew something was wrong, and she was doing no one any good by trying to protect him any further as he began to angrily answer her question.

"I'm going to find Sasuke and see if I beat the shit out of him until he tells me what the fuck's been-"

"He's been raping you!" Sakura finally blurted out her confession.

"-going on," Naruto finished lamely, after being interrupted. His expression went blank as he looked at Sakura. "What?" He asked after a look of utter confusion crossed his features.

"He-he's been forcing himself on you for the past three years. I-I found out about it when I came home and he was using the sharingan to force you to be complaint during sex. You were on the bed because Sasuke made you go there so he could rape you," Sakura finished, her voice nearly a whisper, her hands shaking, unable to look at Naruto. She needed to look up to see his reaction, but she feared seeing the betrayal and hurt in his eyes. Sakura took a deep breath, knowing she needed to be strong for Naruto's sake, but Naruto's reaction was suddenly so loud and clear that she didn't even need to look at him to see how he had taken it.

Naruto began to laugh.

Sakura's head shot up, and looked at her husband to see that it was a truly amused laugh. She knew her horrified expression must have shown on her face as Naruto approached her, trying to hold in his laughter as he caressed her cheek.

"Sakura-chaaan," Naruto sing-songed, suddenly affectionate as he always was when he added the chan suffix to her name. "I don't mean to laugh because I can see how seriously you're taking this, but come on. Obviously you were probably having a fantasy or something, hot and sexy me, and almost but not quite as sexy Sasuke, on our bed together. All those late shifts at the hospital – you were probably sleepwalking! Or, you know what?" Naruto said excitedly, as though this were some kind of guessing game and he had just figured everything out, "I bet it was one of Konohamaru's pranks. The little prick," Naruto chuckled, but Sakura shook her head horrified that Naruto wasn't taking her seriously.

"No, Naruto-"

"No wonder Sasuke looked so pissed! You said something to him about it? Poor Sakura-chan. I'll bet you all the ramen at Ichiraku's that it was just Konohamaru trying to get back at me for that one I pulled on him two months ago. You see, he was really bugging me so I sort of did a henge of him and Udon together, and put him on the bottom. He didn't like that so much, but the reaction on his face was hysterical! He probably thought I'd be the one to come home and see it and flip out-"

"Naruto, please, listen-" Sakura said desperately, but he continued on ignoring her.

"-and since you came home first, you probably thought that it was really Sasuke and I. I'll go find Konohamaru and yell at him, and then find Sasuke to tell him why you were probably yelling at him. Oh man! It makes sense why Sasuke looked so pissed off. You accusing him of raping me! Hahahaha!" Naruto laughed, extremely amused as he kissed Sakura's forehead, still ignoring Sakura's protests as he went for the door again. Then his face got more thoughtful. "But that would never, ever happen. I'd totally be the one on top anyway. I'm much stronger than Sasuke is," Naruto said, shaking his head as though thinking Konohamaru was clearly brain dead to have done such a lame trick and make such an obvious oversight.

"Naruto, damnit, listen! Sasuke's been forcing you! It's the truth!" Sakura finally yelled. Naruto turned around from the door again.

"Sakura-chaaan," Naruto said in his sing-song way again, "stop worrying. It was a practical joke," his face became more serious. "I'll make sure to leave some of Konohamaru still standing so you can pound him into the ground extra hard when you see him next for making you worry so much. Ja matta!" Naruto said before springing out the door.

"Naruto!" Sakura said as she ran to the door, but he was already gone. She clutched the doorframe for support as she felt tears begin to stream down her face. "Damn you Sasuke."

Naruto began to go away from his house, chuckling to himself about the absurdity of Sakura's words. Sasuke raping him. Konohamaru was sick and twisted sometimes, but he wasn't usually that sick and twisted. It must have been pretty convincing if Konohamaru had gone so far as to make two of his close actually have guy-sex. It didn't seem like him, and it bothered Naruto somewhat. And why hadn't either Sasuke or Sakura had just said something to him? Sasuke would have made fun of it, not gotten so upset about it.

Naruto's pace began to slow, as something in the pit of his stomach began to make him feel as though hunting down Konohamaru wasn't the right thing to be doing at the moment. Sasuke had seemed really upset while at his house, and he had looked so needy, come to think of it, when he had told Naruto to meet him later. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to go and see what Sasuke thought of Sakura's accusations. They were completely and utterly absurd, Naruto knew that, and perhaps Sakura had offended Sasuke? Naruto sighed. It wouldn't be the first time that Sakura had gotten on Sasuke's nerves to the near breaking point. He didn't like the idea of the two of them fighting unnecessarily.

Thankfully Naruto felt better that he finally had some notion as to what all the secrecy that the two of them had been talking about. Walking in on Sasuke and Sakura standing so close to each other, Sasuke looking at Sakura so intensely had hurt Naruto's heart so much. To think that they would not need him any more, to think that he wasn't as important to them as they were to him made him want to throw up. Even though Sasuke had told Naruto that he and Sakura hadn't been having an affair when he had gone to confront him three weeks ago, Naruto had felt that Sasuke had been keeping a big secret from him. It hurt to think that Sasuke wouldn't tell him something.

Sakura had been the only girl he had ever really ever had any feelings for, and Sasuke was his most important person. To think that the two he cared about the most no longer cared about him as much hurt. If they ever found solace with each other, he would have tried to be happy, but he wasn't sure he could take that. However, to think that Sakura might have said something to Sasuke to make Sasuke not want to come around any longer hurt Naruto too. He hated it when Sasuke was gone for too long. Old fears came back as though Sasuke had left and he would never return.

Naruto decided the only way to know what Sasuke was really thinking was to ask the bastard himself. He knew it was stupid, but he needed to make sure that Sasuke and Sakura were on good terms so that way Sasuke wouldn't run off from him again. The thought scared him.

He jumped onto a rooftop, spun, and turned direction towards the training grounds that he and Sasuke had last sparred at. Sasuke hadn't specified where they would be meeting at, but he decided that would be the best option for him to go and look.

Behind Naruto, staying out of sight, Sakura glowered at Naruto's sudden change of direction. She had gotten over her moment of weakness and decided to follow Naruto. She needed to see what was going to happen between the two. Whatever was going on between the two of them, it wasn't healthy for Naruto.

She watched as he bounded toward the training field, and it made her heart ache. Naruto had clearly made her believe that he was going to find Konohamaru. For a moment, Sakura doubted herself. She doubted Naruto.

What if Naruto really knew what was going on? What if Sasuke had just been covering for Naruto? Maybe the two of them had come up with some sort of cover story if she had ever caught them going at it unawares? What if Naruto didn't belong to her as much as she thought he did, and Sasuke was just buffering a true affair between the two of them?

Sakura tried to calm herself down, thinking that she was clearly irrational. Sasuke would have probably goaded that right in her face from the get go. But hadn't he? Hadn't he seemed to know what more was going on? Sasuke knew that Naruto's body was his - did Naruto too? Sasuke had seemed to believe that what he was doing for Naruto was to benefit Naruto. There had been something in his attitude since the very beginning.

No! No. No. No. Naruto would never do that to her. Sasuke, yes. Naruto, no.

Naruto would have made a better attempt to go to Sasuke on his own if he had really been having an affair. Then a nasty voice in her head reminded her that Naruto had indeed gone to see Sasuke on his own not too long ago – in the middle of the night. Naruto had even seemed so at ease lying on Sasuke's bed. With this doubt fresh in her mind, her heart skipped a beat when Naruto ended up at one of the training fields with Sasuke waiting expectantly for him. She waited with bated breath for Naruto or Sasuke to speak, wishing that she could see Naruto's face instead of Sasuke's from the place she sat perched far enough away to remain undetected. Sakura nearly let out a sigh of relief when she heard Naruto speak.

"Alright Sasuke. I'm here. Now, tell me why you're so pissed at Sakura that you can't talk to me in front of her."

**Next Chapter: Accepting the Truth**

I've been doing this for a few people on so I figured I would offer the same thing on Some people don't have a log in name, so if you want me to e-mail you when I update each chapter, leave me your e-mail in the review slot. It will not appear in the actual review box, but if you type it in where it says to leave your e-mail (if you're not logged in) on the review page, but it will appear on my e-mail. I'll send you a link for when I update.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you thought. - Jelp


	7. Chapter 7: Accepting the Truth

I've been waiting to get the end of this chapter to all my readers for ages. I wrote the very last scene in this chapter three and a half months ago. **Warning**: _smut and angst._

**Mine**

**Chapter 7: Accepting the Truth**

"Alright Sasuke. I'm here. Now, tell me why you're so pissed at Sakura that you can't talk to me in front of her," Naruto said. Sasuke looked at Naruto's face as he approached Sasuke on the training field the blond had found him at. Sasuke knew Naruto was still frustrated with how he had acted back at his house, but before he could confess his actions, he needed to know something.

"Naruto, do you trust me?" Sasuke asked. Despite looking puzzled, Naruto didn't miss a beat before answering.

"Of course I do." Sasuke nodded. He had expected the answer, but he needed to hear it. He wanted to know what Naruto's answer was before his confession; he had a feeling it might change afterwards.

"For some time now," Sasuke began, looking around. He had felt Sakura's approach, even if Naruto hadn't realized she was there, and decided he'd continue with what he needed to say anyway. He continued, "I've been keeping a secret from you because I didn't want to hurt you-"

"Sasuke, you know you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. You've got things in your past you don't want to talk about; I get that. There are things I don't talk about much either," Naruto said, and Sasuke saw him unconsciously clutch at his stomach towards where his cursed seal was. Sasuke had nearly forgotten about the Kyuubi, the demon having been quieted for so long due to him continuing to balance out the Kyuubi's chakra. How could he have forgotten about how much the Kyuubi had made Naruto's childhood so lonely and painful? Sasuke found it almost too easy to forget about the demon despite the fact that it was the Kyuubi's chakra that had instigated the situation they were in, in the first place.

"Naruto, it's not that kind of secret," Sasuke said, wishing that he could just brush everything aside with Naruto's blind acceptance that he didn't need to tell him everything. "I feel you need to know." Naruto waved his hand dismissively.

"Well, whatever it is, and I think I _do_ know what it is, I think you out to know, you shouldn't be mad at Sakura," Naruto said. Sasuke's words died on his lips. Naruto knew? And Sasuke shouldn't be mad at Sakura?

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, slightly apprehensive. Had Sakura told Naruto? And if so, had Naruto really accepted the news so calmly? Naruto shook his head.

"You see, Konohamaru was the one who did the illusion, and she mistook it for you," Naruto explained. Sasuke blinked at Naruto.

"Illusion?" Sasuke repeated, knowing immediately that he and Naruto were on different topics. What the hell was Naruto talking about? Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke's confusion.

"Sasuke, don't be difficult about this. It wasn't Sakura's fault. I hate it when you two fight. She made a mistake, and I'm sure her accusing you was weird and all, but-"

"_Naruto!_" Sasuke growled, "_What are you talking about?_"

"Sakura thinking you were raping me!" Naruto said. "Isn't that what you're trying to say? You're keeping the secret of what she said because you don't want me to know she had said that and how mad you are at her because you know I don't like it when you're mad at each other, right? Well, Sakura told me, and I explained it was just Konohamaru and-"

"Sakura _told_ you?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"Yeah, no big deal. I bet you told her not to, right? I can tell by the look on your face that you asked her not to. No wonder you two were arguing early. But it's not like I would believe such nonsense. I still don't quite know why Sakura did," Naruto said, scratching his head thoughtfully, as if unable to comprehend his wife's actions. He shrugged and continued, "I explained to her that what she saw was Konohamaru pulling a prank, though she should have seen through the illusion-"

"What does Konohamaru have to do with this?" Sasuke demanded.

"I told you!" Naruto said frustrated, clearly unsure as to why Sasuke didn't understand him. "Konohamaru made the illusion with his clones! You know, the image where it looked like you were raping me. Sakura just thought it was you because the genjutsu looked really realistic. I don't know why she was so mad though. I remember when we were still looking for you, and Konohamaru did the genjutsu where he made it look like you and Sai were going at it, and she seemed to like that," Naruto said, making a face at the memory.

"Illusion of me and Sai going at it?" Sasuke murmured. "Naruto, you and I clearly are not talking about the same thing."

"You're upset about Sakura saying she thought you were raping me, right?"

"I am upset that she told you, but that's because-"

"Well, _I_ _told you_," Naruto said, gritting out the 'I told you' again, "that she was just seeing Konohamaru's genjutsu and just thought it was real. No need to be angry at her or anything."

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. "It wasn't an illusion! It was real!" Sasuke said, angrily. Naruto took a step back from him, looking at Sasuke warily.

"Well that's just stupid. I'd have remembered if it was real," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. Sasuke closed his eyes, willing himself to find patience.

"Don't you think there are loop-holes in what you're saying? Think about it! How could it have been an illusion if you were there in the room!" Sasuke gritted out.

"I was asleep. Konohamaru wouldn't have woken me up because I would have recognized Konohamaru's chakra. You know, like when you or Sakura enter the room, my body reacts to yours very differently than someone who's chakra isn't familiar," Naruto said slowly as though Sasuke were the one not understanding the situation. "Geeze Sasuke! Sakura must have had a pretty convincing story if she got you to believe it too," Naruto said, eyeing Sasuke weirdly.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, finally approaching Naruto. Sasuke was utterly incredulous. After so long of hiding the truth, Sasuke was more frustrated than he had imagined he would be explaining everything. He always assumed he'd be more fearful about Naruto's reaction than anything else. Only Naruto could make him feel frustrated instead, and he was quite frustrated. Why wasn't Naruto accepting the truth? Sakura had told him. Hell, Sasuke was _admitting_ to it! Why wouldn't Naruto just _believe_ it?

Sasuke placed both of his hands onto Naruto's shoulders and looked into Naruto's eyes.

"I have been raping you," Sasuke confessed softly.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, his voice low and quiet, "that's not funny." Naruto lowered his eyes, looking at the ground. His hands began to slowly clench into fists at his sides.

"No, it's not funny," Sasuke admitted, wishing Naruto would look at him. "Let me explain wh-"

"Stop it! I said it's not funny. Cut it out already," Naruto said angrily, his eyes flashing up as his hands darted up to remove Sasuke's hands from his shoulders. Sasuke let him. Naruto looked at him searchingly for a moment before he began to walk away.

"Naruto-"

"I need to go find Konohamaru," Naruto said, without looking back.

"Naruto, please let me explain!" Sasuke pleaded.

"I said cut it out!" Naruto yelled angrily over his shoulder as he began to run. Sasuke stared stupidly after him, dumbstruck at Naruto's inability to accept what Sasuke was telling him.

Sasuke knew Sakura had followed Naruto and knew that she must have been listening in on their conversation. He was therefore unsurprised when she appeared next to him.

"Why can't he accept what an asshole you are?" Sakura said quietly. Sasuke didn't respond as he turned and ran too - running wildly as he wondered the same thing.

* * *

"Why is Sasuke being such a stubborn asshole?" Naruto muttered to himself, scratching the back of his head as he walked around the Hokage Tower. He hadn't been able to find Konohamaru, and it had only been after going to the Hokage Tower and running into Iruka-sensei who told him that Konohamaru was away on a mission that Naruto finally gave up his search for the youngest Sarutobi. He wished Konohamaru was around to confess so that everyone would stop with this weird story that was going around. 

Naruto wasn't sure why Sasuke was now converting to Sakura's ridiculous story, but it didn't make sense for Sasuke to admit to something as insanely improbable as that. Naruto sighed, wondering why Sasuke had said that he was raping him. Honestly! It didn't make sense, and Naruto refused to believe it was true. When could it have happened? He didn't recall any such thing ever happening, and he was pretty sure he would remember something like that.

Naruto snorted at the absurdity of it all. He wondered if Sasuke said what he had because Sakura had ended up catching up with them. Naruto had wondered if Sakura was going to follow him and he had felt her presence not long after he got to the training fields. Naruto wondered if Sasuke had know she was there too. He probably had. But if he did know that, then maybe he just said what he had to appease Sakura! That was it! Sasuke was trying not to fight with Sakura because Sasuke knew it made Naruto upset, so he had said he was raping Naruto because Sakura had been so sure of it, and he didn't want to make Sakura upset!

"That's it!" Naruto said. A random shinobi in the hallway stopped and turned at Naruto's random exclamation. Naruto laughed nervously and ran from the Hokage's office. He needed to find Sasuke while Sakura wasn't there to find out what was _really_ going on. Naruto felt like laughing. Sasuke hadn't wanted to make Sakura look bad while she was there, that was all.

Naruto bounded out of the Hokage Tower, heading towards Sasuke's, hoping to finally figure out what was going on.

* * *

Sakura wasn't sure what to do with herself. Naruto hadn't believed her when she had told him that Sasuke was raping him - and he hadn't even believed Sasuke when Sasuke had told him! It was as though Sasuke could do no wrong in Naruto's mind. The thought made her heart ache. Had she been foolish to think that Naruto's heart belonged to her if he was unwilling to see Sasuke's flaws? 

Naruto had always looked up to Sasuke - Naruto had confided this piece of information to her about a month into their marriage, but how far did it go? How far did it really go for Naruto? Naruto had chased after Sasuke, spending years of his life to find Sasuke. She knew that Naruto had considered his promise to bring Sasuke back the type of promise he would do anything to make reality. But was it just that she had made him promise? Or had he gone after Sasuke because Naruto cared more about finding Sasuke than anyone and anything else?

Why was she thinking these things?

She loved Naruto, more than she thought it was possible to love a person - and he loved her! Sakura's heart soared as she remembered that he did love her. His eyes, the way he spoke to her, the way that he laughed around her made her sure of this. What was she thinking? Naruto's heart still belonged to him. And he had married _her_ after all. Why was she fretting? Naruto would never break a marriage vow. It would go against his nindo after all, to go against his word.

Sakura nodded to herself. If Naruto didn't believer her - or Sasuke for that matter - and if Sasuke attempted to hurt Naruto any more, then Sakura had no choice than to make sure that Naruto wasn't hurt any longer. Sakura finally moved from her statue-like position that she had been in since both Naruto and Sasuke had run off over an hour ago. She too turned and ran from the grounds, running with direction and purpose.

She seemed to arrive at her destination in record time, and she banged on the door of the Hokage's office.

"Come in!" Tsunade bellowed.

"Master," Sakura said in way of greeting. Tsunade looked up from her pile of paperwork (that she probably hadn't been working on anyway) and smiled at Sakura.

"What brings you here, Sakura?" Tsunade asked. Sakura walked forward and sat down pristinely in the chair in front of the Hokage's desk, her eyes serious as she looked at Tsunade, her hands perched on her knees.

"It's about Sasuke - doing something to Naruto," Sakura said. Tsunade's eyes widened slightly. She nodded her head, and pulled out a white sake bottle from her desk, followed by two small white cups. She poured herself a cup, and one for Sakura. Sakura took the cup, looking at it strangely.

"I think we both have some stories to tell. You'll need that after we're done," Tsunade said, downing her cup in one gulp in anticipation of what was to come. She began pouring herself another one before her first gulp had finished going down her throat.

* * *

Sasuke ran blindly, letting his feet carry him. He wasn't sure what to think. He had finally told Naruto, not in the way he wanted, not even in the exact place he had wanted, and Naruto hadn't even reacted to him in anyway he had imagined. In all of his scenarios of how Naruto might react, Sasuke hadn't been prepared for Naruto to flat out refuse to believe him. Naruto hadn't even let him explain what had happened! 

His feet took him to the Hokage Mountain, a place he instinctively associated with Naruto. He remembered the first time that Sasuke had tried to tell Naruto of their situation. Sasuke had been just a day too late. Naruto had started to go out with Sakura, and he had lost his chance to see if Naruto would have chosen him over Sakura by not saying anything when he should have.

Sasuke closed his eyes remembering. Sasuke had made a snide comment about Sakura thinking about him instead of Naruto when Sakura and Naruto would be dating. He remembered Naruto's reaction, his anger that had led them to this same mountaintop.

_"Doesn't matter who she's thinking about as long as it's me she's with,"_ Naruto had said.

The words had hurt him then, and they burned him even more now. Was Naruto's denial a way to protect himself against the pain of what Sasuke had done, or was it perhaps a way to protect Sakura?

_"...as long as it's me she's with..."_ Naruto's words reverberated in Sasuke's mind yet again. Naruto would go to great lengths to protect those he loved. Was Naruto's refusal to accept the truth his mind's way of protecting Sasuke's betrayal from Sakura? Or from Naruto himself?

Was Sasuke even at fault? Truly? Wasn't he saving Naruto's life after all? Sasuke sighed. But he couldn't kid himself. He knew he was the one at fault. He hadn't told Naruto soon enough. He'd had opportunities to tell Naruto so many different times. He'd even at one point had Tsunade's encouragement. His own inability to act soon enough had cost him so much.

A raindrop fell on the side of his hand, and Sasuke looked blankly up to the sky, wondering how long he had been running, wondering how he had been so oblivious that storm clouds had come in?

Sasuke didn't bother to run as the heavens opened up as the rain began to pour. He walked slowly back to his house. The heavy down pour lasted the majority of his walk home, but it didn't bother Sasuke. The weight of the water soaked in his clothing seemed to reflect the weight that seemed to still be on his shoulders as he trudged back along the muddy paths.

_"...as long as it's me she's with..."_

Sasuke sighed. He hadn't really been thinking much when Naruto had come to find him. He had been too nervous of Naruto's initial reaction. Now that the shock was slowly fading away, his heart ached. A part of him, despite believing that Naruto would hate him (before he got the chance to explain he was saving his life anyway), had actually believed Naruto would be glad. He had been foolish to hope that Naruto would leave Sakura immediately for Sasuke. He had never allowed himself to truly look at this idea before, but it had always been there, deep in his heart, aching for Naruto to love him, to choose him. But why would that have happened? Naruto had never shown any romantic interest in Sasuke, and Naruto had gone after Sakura. He had married Sakura! So what if Naruto's body responded to his? What did that mean? Sasuke knew of lots of people who got off on reading the Icha-Icha series, reading about people who they did not love, but were able to find a sexual release reading about it.

Love was not lust. He knew this, but he loved the one he lusted after. In a good relationship both should go hand in hand. Yet his and Naruto's relationship couldn't be called all that good. Sasuke closed his eyes in sadness. Sasuke hadn't felt this depressed since three years ago, three years ago when his life had held no purpose after his fulfillment of revenge.

There was only a light mist by the time Sasuke reached the last path to his house.

Sasuke had only been half aware that his feet had taken him home. He opened the door, the water from his clothes so heavily sodden down with water that he had almost left a puddle on his front stop just in the time it took him to open the door. Sasuke trudged lifelessly to his bedroom, knowing he must have left a wet trail on the way, but he couldn't bring himself to really care all that much.

"Geeze, you're a mess. I wondered if you had gotten caught out in the downpour." Sasuke's head shot up at the voice that he had certainly not expected to greet him upon entering his bedroom.

"Naruto," Sasuke breathed, somehow finding it surreal that Naruto was there, in his home.

"Lucky I was here. I climbed in your bedroom window. You left it wide open. I closed it when I heard the rain starting. If I hadn't been here, your bedroom floor would have been soaked," Naruto said.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"You're welcome for shutting your window," Naruto grumbled.

"Thanks," Sasuke deadpanned. "What are you doing here?" he then repeated.

"I figured it out," Naruto said, nodding. "You didn't want to hurt Sakura's feelings. You knew she was there behind us, so you-"

"Naruto!" Sasuke hollered, putting his hands over his ears, unable to listen to Naruto make up more excuses for him. "You're ill Naruto. Your body has an imbalance of chakra that needs to be regularly balanced out. I've been using my chakra to counterbalance yours for the past three years. If I don't do it, then you'll die," Sasuke got out. Sasuke lowered his hands from his ears, his entire body weary. He was just so tired. He wanted it all out in the open. Having the secret bottled up in him for so long had made it so much harder to get out. Wasn't it supposed to make him feel uplifted to tell the truth? Why did he feel so drained? And so weak? Naruto turned his head away to the side, looking thoughtful.

"Something's wrong with me?" Naruto asked after a minute of silence. Sasuke nodded. "And you've been balancing out my chakra?" Another nod. "Well, what's the big deal? I mean, why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke looked at Naruto, black eyes boring into blue ones. Naruto still didn't understand because Sasuke wasn't connecting the dots for Naruto, even though all the clues were now presented in front of him. And Sasuke was just so tired somehow. So drained. He felt chilled standing in his wet clothes, the air inside his own home much cooler than the moist, humid air outside.

He was tired of trying to make Naruto understand, make him see the connection. Sasuke didn't want Naruto to run out on him once Naruto put everything together. He wanted Naruto to figure it out on his own. He wanted them to somehow work something out. He wanted to be out of his wet clothes. And as usual -

He wanted Naruto.

But he was too tired to fight with Naruto at the moment. Too tired to explain in greater detail and then to expect Naruto to readily accept that Naruto needed his chakra soon since it had been a while since they had last had sex.

Sasuke activated his sharingan with Naruto completely unsuspecting as he had been staring straight into Sasuke's eyes. Naruto was instantly caught completely in Sasuke's genjutsu. There was a slight pain in Sasuke's eyes as he did so, but Sasuke ignored the pain and the thought of the possible problems this overuse of his sharingan would generate.

All he thought about was sliding out of his wet clothes. So he did, leaving them in a wet heap at his front door as Naruto's clueless self stared blankly at him. Sasuke stepped outside the ring his clothing had made at his feet, sauntering towards Naruto. His skin had goosebumps, and he wasn't sure if it had to do with the coolness of his house, or the anticipation of being inside of Naruto after being denied for weeks.

"Naruto," Sasuke murmured, unzipping Naruto's suit. The orange and black material parted in front of Sasuke, and Sasuke shuddered in anticipation as he ran his hand down the front of Naruto's meshed covered shirt. Sasuke enjoyed stripping Naruto of his clothes, feeling the warmth that Naruto's body radiated as he warmed his own body by being close to Naruto.

Once he had rid Naruto of his clothes, he led Naruto to the bed, laying his friend and lover down on his back. Sasuke laid on top of Naruto, gently placing his cold lips on Naruto's. He pinched Naruto's nose lightly until Naruto finally began to respond, his body heating up as he gasped for breath inside of Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke slipped his tongue between Naruto's parted lips, removing his hand from the back of Naruto's nose to cup behind Naruto's hand.

He enjoyed kissing Naruto for a few minutes, placing kisses - and some bite marks - down Naruto's neck and chest. Perhaps the bite marks would drive the point home to Naruto later on. After enjoying finally being able to leave his mark on Naruto without fear that Sakura or Naruto himself would notice, he flipped Naruto over onto his stomach. Sasuke reached over to his nightstand, pulling out the lube from his top drawer. He coated his hardened shaft, and moaned at his own touch. He had gotten far to used to having Naruto every few days, and he desired his release readily.

Sasuke coated his fingers with lube as well, stretching Naruto longer than usual since he hadn't been inside him for what felt like ages. Sasuke coated himself with more lube before sinking himself balls deep inside of Naruto.

"Nnnn," Sasuke moaned. He began moving slowly inside of Naruto, not wishing to come so fast, wanting to enjoy Naruto's body - at least one more time, _just in case_. Sasuke was panting harder and faster in a matter of moments, and even with the slow thrusting, Sasuke knew he wouldn't last that long.

Naruto panted beneath him, his body - as always - moaning at the pleasures he unknowingly enjoyed so much. His panting made Sasuke groan in pleasure and he thrust harder as Naruto gave a particularly loud moan.

"Damn!" Sasuke hissed as a sharp pain shot through his eyes at the same time he had thrust harder. He stilled his motions for a moment, blinking his black eyes before continuing his thrusting...

* * *

Naruto's mind seemed groggy as he felt himself panting. A wave of pleasure filled his body, as he felt as though he had just awoken from what might have been a pleasurable dream into a more pleasurable reality. 

At first, his mind wasn't able to process anything more than the pleasure his body felt, a greater and deeper pleasure that he ever recalled feeling before. He was panting heavily, and his heart was hammering fast inside of him, pumping blood throughout his body, pumping blood to his cock that was throbbing deliciously against the cool sheets of fabric below him. He dazedly realized that his body was being pushed forward as he himself was mechanically pushing backwards. The situation came to reality as he realized he was lying down on a bed, his sweaty body pressed into the sheets, thrusting his dick against the bed to create friction against his throbbing member. Behind him, a body pressed inside of him, in his ass, thrusting what Naruto could only presume to be another cock inside him.

It terrified and thrilled him all at the same instant.

Naruto knew somewhere in the back of his mind that something wasn't right with this situation, but he couldn't bring his body to stop responding. He could feel the body of the man behind him, could feel the shape of the hard stomach, clenching and unclenching as he thrust forward. He could feel the familiar grip on his wrists as the man behind him used his arms to help pull himself tighter inside of his body. And he could even smell the sweat, the strangely erotic smell of sweat, that he knew so well.

These clues, these intimacies, spoke volumes to Naruto, and he knew, as if he had known it from the instant that he had become coherent, that it was Sasuke who was moving above him, that it was Sasuke that knew how to make his body feel so good. Still, he twisted his head around slightly to see if he was right. He was. What Sakura and Sasuke had tried to tell him earlier, what he had refused to believe earlier, still didn't seem real to him, didn't seem possible to him, despite the proof right before his eyes.

His mind still refused to register that something was wrong, that words that had been spoken earlier should have prepared him for this. But that was too far in the past for Naruto when his present situation had driven so much from his mind.

There, on top of him, Sasuke's naked body glistened in sweat, his eyes closed, his mouth moving and his chest heaving as he panted in time with how he thrust inside of Naruto. It made Naruto shiver to see Sasuke so utterly lost and beautiful like that that he couldn't bare to look at him because of how it made his heart both ache and explode with emotion. That vision became ingrained into Naruto's mind. By just thinking about Sasuke's face made Naruto pant heavier, warmth spreading from his balls to the base of his cock, spreading throughout his body, and coming once again to the base of his cock in greater intensity. His hands darted out to grasp onto something at the intensified sensation. Sasuke stumbled on top of him at his sudden movement, and he lost his grip on Naruto's wrists and fell onto Naruto, thrusting deeper and harder inside making Naruto scream out in pleasure as he felt himself erupt into blissful oblivion as he orgasmed.

"Sa-Sasuke!" Naruto cried out, the name torn from his lips. Sasuke's body stiffened upon his name as though in shock, but he was too far gone, and hearing Naruto call his name in the throws of passion made Sasuke slam hard into Naruto as Sasuke came as well.

Sasuke could feel the warmth of his own sperm coat the inside of Naruto's body, and then slicken his cock and Naruto's ass all at the same time as Naruto's cheeks squeezed at him, his sensitivity so heightened from his love making that he felt as though he wanted to orgasm again. Nothing more could come out of him, and he had to pull his cock out of Naruto as the pained feeling of being pleasured too much took over his body.

Still panting, Sasuke backed away from Naruto, knowing immediately something had gone wrong. Naruto had said his name. He had never forced Naruto to do that, and it was with that realization that Sasuke could feel that his sharingan was no longer activated which meant that Naruto had woken up in the midst of forcing himself upon him. It must have deactivated when the pain had shot through his eyes.

"Shit," Sasuke hissed to himself.

Naruto turned around at hearing Sasuke hiss something unintelligible. Naruto's chest was heaving, and he was taking shuddering breaths to calm his body, feeling the wetness of his own cum on his stomach and on the now soaking bed sheets, as well as Sasuke's cum dripping from inside of him.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked hesitantly, as he looked around him, gathering his wits as the height of passion and ecstasy left him.

Sudden horrible realization hit him. Sasuke had been inside him, fucking him. Sakura hadn't been mistaken, and even Sasuke had _told_ him! He hadn't believed it. Couldn't believe it. It hadn't made sense. It still didn't make sense. What Sasuke had told him about a supposed illness didn't make sense. Sakura had tried warning him about Sasuke, and he hadn't believed her. Sasuke had tried to explain to him what was going on, but Naruto, a deep part of Naruto, just hadn't wanted to hear what Sasuke had to say to him. Sasuke was - - Naruto couldn't even put words to it. Instead, he turned angrily towards Sasuke, glaring at his supposed best friend. "What the hell do you think you're doing you fucking bastard?"

**Next Chapter: Running**

Hi. Ano…you all still love me despite the cliffhanger, right? - Jelp


	8. Chapter 8: Running

**Mine **

**Chapter 8: Running**

"What the hell do you think you're doing to me you fucking bastard?" Naruto demanded.

"N-Naruto," Sasuke said stupidly, unable to say anymore as he looked at Naruto. Naruto was still breathing heavily from his sharingan-induced orgasm. Nonetheless, his eyes were completely focused on Sasuke, confusion, rage, betrayal, and blatant accusation in his glare. Any lust he had unknowingly felt had vanished. "I-I-" Sasuke couldn't speak, too mortified with himself to form words.

It was Naruto's fist to his face that finally snapped him out of his stupor.

"Asshole," Naruto hissed, and he took another swing at Sasuke. Sasuke blocked the fist and grabbed Naruto's wrist. He expected Naruto to wrench his hand away from him in disgust or anger, but Naruto merely stared at Sasuke, his eyes suddenly filled with so much pain that Sasuke nearly couldn't form the words that had sprung to his lips.

"I-I was going to explain, but time was running out," Sasuke supplied lamely. Naruto showed no reaction to these words. Sasuke never remembered feeling so idiotic before.

"Start explaining. _Now_," Naruto said, his voice barely audible. Sasuke swallowed, and began explaining to Naruto - and he explained everything. Sasuke stared into Naruto's eyes, his voice non-ceasing as he stood there, stark naked in front of Naruto, his eyes never daring to move his eyes from Naruto's. A part of him wanted to get dressed, somehow feeling that _he_ had been the one violated underneath Naruto's gaze. Naruto wasn't moving despite still being naked, despite the obvious signs of their lovemaking – or rather, Sasuke's forced lovemaking – on Naruto's body. Sasuke explained how Tsunade had requested him for this mission. He explained how he had started to fall for Naruto, how he had messed up by not telling Naruto about his feelings sooner, how he had still continued to do his "mission" without telling Naruto after he and Sakura had married. And of course, he explained how Sakura had walked in on them. Naruto finally broke eye contact.

"So Sakura was trying to keep you away from me these past few weeks. That's what's been going on between the two of you," Naruto murmured.

"Yes," Sasuke said. Sasuke's own face became impassive as he watched Naruto shut down. Naruto's face was as blank as Sasuke's, a feat Sasuke had never thought Naruto, ever so full of emotion, was capable of pulling off. Sasuke still had his hand loosely wrapped around Naruto's wrist, but Naruto turned his entire body from him and he gently pulled his arm away from Sasuke. Sasuke let Naruto's hand go from his grasp. Both were silent as Naruto mechanically found his clothes and dressed without looking at Sasuke. Sasuke stared at Naruto, watching his every movement, waiting for some sort of reaction. Waiting for the explosion. Waiting for _anything_.

But nothing came. Naruto was wordless. Expressionless. He didn't look at Sasuke, and Sasuke could feel his insides going cold. He would be an idiot not to realize that Naruto was hurting, that Naruto felt betrayed despite the impassive look on his normally expressive face.

"Naruto," Sasuke murmured, but Naruto made absolutely no sign that he had heard Sasuke at all. It was if Sasuke didn't exist. The cold feeling inside Sasuke grew, and he almost felt ready to panic. This was the absolute worst possible thing that he could have expected from Naruto. A complete and utter refusal to even acknowledge Sasuke's existence hurt him deeper than any words Naruto could have come up with. Naruto wasn't recognizing Sasuke, and that was something that he knew Naruto hated; Naruto always hated being ignored. Sasuke knew Naruto hated when others didn't recognize him, and he knew Naruto was purposefully making Sasuke feel as though he didn't exist.

Sasuke would even have been happy to hear Naruto say that he hated him just to know that he could invoke some sort of emotion, some sort of reaction from Naruto, but none come. Nothing. Blankness. An attempt to sever whatever relationship they had had. It was the first time that Naruto had done anything to indicate he didn't want anything to do with Sasuke.

"Naruto, wait," Sasuke said as Naruto began to wordlessly exit his room, but Naruto neither slowed down nor sped up upon hearing Sasuke's request. Sasuke was halfway through his doorway before he realized he was still stark naked, and that he should dress before following Naruto. He dressed in record time, but Naruto had already vanished from the area. Sasuke swore, having a feeling he knew where Naruto might be headed.

* * *

"So you assigned the mission for Sasuke?" Sakura asked while sipping tentatively at the cup of sake that Tsunade had given her at the beginning of her explanation. Tsunade nodded.

"I thought for sure that Sasuke would have used it to his advantage. I thought that there was some spark between Sasuke and Naruto before, and that it would have been an opportunity for Sasuke to finally admit his feelings for Naruto, and for Naruto to admit them back," Tsunade said, her words slurred as she downed her tenth cup of sake, her cheeks a bright, rosy hue. "I messed up. It was my worst decision as Hokage. I thought Sasuke would say something, but he hasn't. And I couldn't just _- hiccup -_ tell him to tell Naruto because I don't trust that bastard enough. I think he would refuse, even under pain of death unless he got his way. Still, it's no real excuse. It really is my fault," Tsunade said miserably.

Sakura nodded, numbly absorbing the information Tsunade had presented her, finishing her first cup of sake.

"Yes, yes it was your fault that my husband has unknowingly suffered."

* * *

As soon as Naruto had left Sasuke's home he had dropped his expressionless mask, and let the tears flow freely. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe how screwed up his life had become. Sasuke had been lying to him for three years _- three fucking years -_ and Sasuke had hurt Sakura in the process!

Somewhere behind him, he thought he heard Sasuke calling his name, but Naruto sped up, hoping to make it to his destination without Sasuke seeing how much emotion he had invoked in him. He couldn't deal with Sasuke right now. He was too pissed. He was too emotional. He would do something stupid because he was so pissed. No, he was beyond pissed.

Naruto was utterly livid. He knew that Sasuke was following him, knew that he was saying something to him, but all Naruto saw was the blur of scenery before him in his rage. He had trusted Sasuke. _Trusted him!_ The fucker – literally. What was he playing at? Was this some sort of sadistic game that he hadn't understood before? Was he just being toyed with? What did Sasuke mean by feelings? What nonsense was that?

And why hadn't he, Naruto, realized anything was amiss? Had he been that stupid?

He knew right away that Sasuke was able to have used his sharingan to make Naruto oblivious, and Naruto's rage was increased in that he hadn't been able to stop Sasuke from manipulating his mind. Naruto wanted to do nothing more than turn around and pummel Sasuke, beat him, hurt him, do _something_, but he feared the consequences of meeting those damnable eyes yet again. Feared that perhaps that there was nothing that Naruto could do to prevent Sasuke from utterly taking him over.

He couldn't say that he felt violated, not his body. He didn't feel dirty. His body had been abused and battered in what Naruto considered far worse ways from Sasuke before. A chidori powered hand through his chest versus a cock in his ass didn't phase him as much as it might with others. Naruto didn't feel violated. He didn't feel dirty.

He felt utterly humiliated and ashamed. His humiliation fueled his rage that he couldn't do anything. He felt ashamed because he had enjoyed what Sasuke had done to his body, but he pushed that thought to the side. That was a bit much for him to think about, and he was too pissed already. The feeling of helplessness was what made Naruto mad with fury. Naruto was not a helpless man, and he didn't like feeling that there was something he couldn't control. Long gone were the days when Naruto pretended that he was happy; long gone were the days that he had to force a smile to his face. His life had been just about everything that he had ever hoped for. At least, he had thought so. This flipped his happy world upside down. To think that he had been unknowingly lied to about something that Sasuke claimed to be so important had his body shaking in his fury.

All Naruto could do was run as fast as he could to the Hokage Tower, move as fast as he could to see Tsunade, demand answers from the hag, and demand to know why - if for some reason all of Sasuke's shit happened to be true - _why_, why the hell had no one told him? He was not fucking weak!

Naruto decided to use the main entrance for the Hokage tower, fearing he would break the glass if he entered from her window. He stormed passed everyone, and he was only partially aware of people calling out to him, asking him what was wrong or yelling at him not to be so violent in his complete focus to get to the Hokage's office as fast as possible.

The Hokage's office seemed to materialize in front of him he had gone so fast, and he slammed his fist heavily on the door, yelling and demanding entrance.

"Open this door your damnable old hag!" Naruto yelled, pounding his fist on the door as he did so. When the door did not open in the two seconds he waited, he slammed it open, only to double up in pain as something came flying at him from across the room, hitting him directly in the stomach. Naruto, caught unawares, stumbled backward back out of the door as he hit the floor on his ass. His eyes widened as his rant was stopped as he watched as Sakura was doing her best to beat Tsunade while an obviously drunk Tsunade was trying to throw things at her protégé to get the younger female off of her.

It was a dumbfounding scene to see Sakura having the upper hand over Tsunade. While Naruto watched, frozen to the spot, he saw that Tsunade had stopped moving, and was unable to throw anything else. Sakura had jumped on top of Tsunade, and started punching her in the face. Tsunade's nose was clearly within the first smash, and as Sakura's fist repeatedly punched into her face, blood spurted everywhere. Naruto's mind began to slowly catch up with him, and he realized that Sakura was actually yelling something at Tsunade. Naruto stood up, wincing as he clutching at his stomach where he had been hit by a random flying office object.

"You bitch! You liar! How could you? How could you do that to Naruto?" Sakura yelled angrily, her words slurred as tears ran down her face while sobs shook her body.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled from behind Naruto, stopping dead beside the blond, staring opened mouthed at the scene in front of him. He had clearly not been expecting to see Sakura beating Tsunade to death when he had chased after Naruto.

"Sakura!" Naruto finally said, his wits finally catching up with him at Sasuke's appearance, and he ran forward and grabbed Sakura from around the middle, her fists still flying as Naruto yanked her off of Tsunade. She was sobbing hysterically, but when he put her on her feet, she seemed to realize he was there and she leaned weakly onto him.

"I'm so sorry," Sakura cried. Sasuke ran over to check on Tsunade, though it was obvious he would be unable to treat her medically, just surveying the damage.

"What happened in here?" Shizune gasped. "Tsunade-sama!" she said, racing over to Tsunade, her chakra already flowing to her hands as she began to heal Tsunade's wounds. Naruto gently patted Sakura's shoulder, feeling numb from everything. His rage was forgotten in his shock as he saw over Sakura's pink head of hair that Tsunade had seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness.

Other people began filing in the room, and questions began to fly. Naruto watched as Sasuke remained mute when Shizune asked if Sakura had done it. She didn't bother asking Naruto or Sakura straight up. She seemed frustrated when he didn't respond, and Naruto growled when the ANBU that had filed in the room had told him he needed to release Sakura from his grasp. He would have fought, feeling the need to release his anger, but Sakura untangled herself from his grasp and walked with the ANBU out the door.

A few other ANBU ushered Naruto and Sasuke into a room that Naruto had never seen before that reminded him of some sort of holding cell - which he realized a few moments later it was. He and Sasuke were separated as the ANBU escorted Sasuke into an adjacent room. The ANBU that had ushered him in told him to sit down, and then he exited, slamming the door, telling him he would be back to question him about what had happened.

Naruto stared through the dim light towards the white wall in front of him. There was a table with two chairs, one on either side of the table. Doing as the ANBU told him, Naruto sat in one of the chairs, and put his head in his hands.

What the hell had all just happened? He wasn't sure he would be any better at explaining the situation to the ANBU.

* * *

Tsunade, conscious after being tended to be Shizune, sat facing Sasuke in the room adjacent to the one that Naruto had been ushered into. Sasuke idly wondered why she had decided to talk to him instead of Naruto first. Sasuke saw that the bridge of her nose was bruised, but couldn't see any other damage while she was holding a tissue to her nose that was still leaking blood. It was obvious that she was drunk, and Sasuke could smell the strong stench of sake even sitting across from her.

"I explained things to Sakura," Tsunade said, her words slurred and nasal sounding. "She didn't take it too well." Well, Sasuke thought to himself, that's why she told him first. He realized that she would have probably explained it to Naruto first except that she didn't know that he had told Naruto.

"I explained things to Naruto. He didn't take it too well either," Sasuke murmured. Tsunade's eyes widened. She banged her hand on the table, making it collapse under her heavy touch. Sasuke pushed his feet on the floor and pushed himself backwards to avoid his legs being crushed.

"And who could blame him?" Tsunade said miserably. Sasuke didn't quite know what to say. He had never seen Tsunade so disorganized before. When he had been in Sound he had heard stories from both Kabuto and Orochimaru about Tsunade's past, and he knew that she didn't take well to losing people. He also had heard the first hand account from Kabuto about how Tsunade seemed to have drawn strength from Naruto when he had risked his life to save hers, and she had risen to the occasion by managing to get over her fear of blood. As he watched her hold her nose while it dripped blood, he would never have imagined her to be a hemophiliac.

"I-" Sasuke was cut off when the door to Sasuke's detainment room banged opened, followed by two ANBU members.

"What have you been able to glean from this suspect, Hokage-sama?" the first ANBU spoke. His face mask reminded Sasuke of a rat.

"What do you mean, 'suspect?'" Tsunade asked thickly, her eyes narrowing, suddenly focused despite her drunken state. Sasuke stared at the ANBU, always hating how their masks hid their facial expressions.

"The suspect on the attempt on your life, of course." The ANBU's voice was so expressionless that Sasuke wondered if the face behind the mask would have shown any emotion change. Sasuke felt a strange distrust for him.

"Attempt on my life?" Tsunade asked incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

"It is obvious that Uzumaki Sakura attempted to kill you. The evidence is clear," the second ANBU spoke, his voice quiet, sounding a little more confused.

"There was no 'attempt on my life,'" Tsunade sneered. The first ANBU spoke again.

"Meaning no disrespect Hokage-sama, but you are quite drunk. It is also clear that Sakura-san had only had a little to drink so that really cannot be taken into account. Also, the way that she was attacking you suggests that you two were not training. If Naruto had not pulled her off of you, and Shizune had not been present, you would have drowned in your own blood from the way it was clogged in your throat. Your throat had been slightly crushed, and the thickness and the amount of blood would have killed you."

"I'm a medical ninja, I know how these things work!" Tsunade bellowed, angry at being talked down to. "And I tell you, it was not an attempt on my life!" Personally Sasuke disagreed, but he was sure that Sakura wouldn't attempt it again. He could imagine her initial fury at finding out her master had lied to her, and had made her husband's well being into a mission.

"Forgive me Tsunade-sama, but your affection for your former pupil, and the drunken state in which you were in during the ordeal clearly makes you unable to give an unbiased account of what happened. We are certain that Sakura-san made an attempt on your life, and we are only now trying to determine the motive. We believe it may have to do with trying to end your life in order to promote her husband, Uzumaki Naruto, as Hokage sooner-"

"Ridiculous!" Tsunade yelled.

"Naruto wasn't even there!" Sasuke yelled, standing up, feeling defiant that the ANBU would dare suggest such a thing. "He was with me, and the look on his face when he saw what was going on was complete and utter shock. No one could have faked that."

"Unless you are lying for both of them," the first ANBU said, his masked face tilting to the side to better sum up Sasuke. Sasuke fumed.

"If I had made an attempt on the Hokage's life, it wouldn't have failed," Sasuke said quietly, the room going chilled with his statement.

"Yes, we had calculated that into the mix. It was not your style, and we therefore ruled out that you were directly involved," the second ANBU said, and Sasuke was pleased to see that the second ANBU at least knew that Sasuke was a man to be feared.

"You're an asshole," Tsunade said, and Sasuke was bemused to see that she was glaring at him before her attentions were turned back to the two ANBU in the room. "You are under my jurisdiction, and the fact that you are not listening to me means that both of you can and will be dismissed from your duties."

The second ANBU shifted uncomfortable next to the first, but the first held his ground.

"We are trained in order to protect Konoha at all costs. Even from the Hokage if necessary - but in this case," the ANBU added hurriedly, "we believe we are protecting _you_, and therefore Konoha from an unnecessary upheaval. Even your aid Shizune says she thinks that there was something wrong. She heard the two of your arguing in your room before she entered. She said that she regrets not going in sooner, but she knew that the two of you tended to spar every now and then, and since she was unaware of your drunken state she believed you were capable of handling yourself," the ANBU said. His slight emotionless veneer dropped to sound distasteful upon the word drunk, making it clear that he didn't approve of Tsunade's drinking habits.

"Sakura and I had a minor disagreement. She is not a heavy drinker. It is not her fault that such little sake affected her so much," Tsunade said.

"A disagreement?" the second ANBU asked.

"Yes, a _minor_ disagreement. Nothing that concerns you, and nothing that would indicate the brat - er - Uzumaki Naruto or this bastard here of being involved on any 'attempts' on my life," Tsunade assured.

"I don't believe that Sakura meant any harm," Sasuke said, knowing that while he and Sakura were not on the best of terms, she didn't deserve whatever these two twisted ANBU had in mind. He had no delusions that Sakura may have been trying to beat Tsunade into a miserable pulp, but intentionally killing her was counterproductive.

It was clear that something was up. How would Naruto and himself be involved in an attempt on Tsunade's life? It was clear that there were old biases here. Sasuke was sure it was a way to make sure that Naruto was cast in shadows for being the next Hokage. Sasuke frowned. With everything else that had been going on with his personal situation with Naruto, he had forgotten about Naruto's ambitions to become Hokage, and he had also forgotten about the ridiculous biases against him for being the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi.

"If it was such a minor disagreement, and her reaction was so violent, we can be assured that she is dangerous."

Sasuke darted out of the way as the table fragments went flying at the two ANBU, Tsunade's bellow of rage and the contortion of utter anger on her face finally allowing Sasuke to see why she was the Hokage. She really wasn't a woman to mess with, and he gave Sakura credit for having guts to attempt pummeling Tsunade into the ground, even while drunk.

The two ANBU wouldn't be ANBU if they hadn't dodged the flying table fragments, but Tsunade wasn't about to let them go unscathed as she then proceeded to throw both chairs at them. The door slammed open. Clearly having the crashing sounds made by the monstrous strength of the Hokage as she hurtled things across the room would be enough to bring more people to the room, especially after recent events.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune yelled.

"Get these inept ANBU out of my sight!" Tsunade bellowed. "And him too!" Tsunade added, pointing at Sasuke. Sasuke was only too happy to oblige.

* * *

"They think that what happened was an 'attempt on my life,'" Tsunade sneered clearly showing what she thought of this idea. "Their first choice of punishment is execution since they consider you a complete threat. I am trying to push to get all charges dropped. If that doesn't work, I will attempt to push for banishment instead, but they say letting you leave will only allow you ample opportunity to rally others in order to finish off what you started," Tsunade said through the bars of a detainment cell three floors below ground level of the Hokage tower. Several hours had passed, and Tsunade was almost entirely sobered up, though she looked ashen and troubled.

Sakura could merely stare at Tsunade and merely nod her head at the information. She felt that she ought to apologize for her behavior, ought to apologize for nearly causing her former master's death at her own hands. Yet she wasn't sure if she said it if she would be telling the truth. Her entire body felt numb, and her own actions and situation had yet to catch up with reality.

"It's obvious they are grasping at straws. I think it's an attempt in order to paint Naruto in a negative light so he won't become Hokage. There are always those that will try to oppose whoever becomes Hokage, and I hadn't realized there were any left who would cook up such foolish nonsense in order to prevent Naruto's ascension to Hokage," Tsunade explained. Sakura's head shot up.

"Why would they consider Naruto to be a threat?"

"He was initially considered to be your accomplice in your 'attempt on my life.' It's in my will that if my death occurs prematurely to nominating the next Hokage that I have picked Naruto as the person who I believe should become the Rokudaime Hokage. But Naruto doesn't even know that, so they can't use that against him as an excuse for him trying to kill me," Tsunade explained, smiling wryly.

"What? But Naruto would never-"

"I know that. But considering your behavior, people would have thought you even less likely to want to kill me, yet you tried," Tsunade said. Sakura looked away. "I don't begrudge you your actions. I am well aware of my own folly. You can't be more upset with me than I am with myself, I assure you." Sakura hung her head.

"I am sorry," Sakura apologized, and meant it. The door to the cell area opened, and Sakura saw Shizune walk through the doorway.

"They've ruled on the death penalty," Shizune said, her face pale and stressed.

"Death penalty?" Sakura repeated. Tsunade nodded at the information, unsurprised.

"How much time do we have?" Tsunade asked.

"It's scheduled for tomorrow evening," Shizune said. Tsunade frowned.

"We'll have to prepare your escape for the morning then," Tsunade murmured. "We have much to prepare for tonight. Sakura, I'll make this up to you, and to Naruto, somehow," Tsunade murmured before leaving the room with Shizune.

"Wait! What is-" but Sakura's words died on her lips as Tsunade left.

Sakura paced her cell anxiously for several hours. No one came to see her, and she knew that she needed rest if she were to try to "escape." She finally decided to get some sleep, but she barely slept, and what little sleep she did get was restless and almost useless.

Being underground made it difficult for Sakura to know the exact time, but she had an inkling that it was sometime near dawn that someone finally came to see her.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, running to the bars in order to see her husband.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said affectionately, kissing her through the bars. "Tsunade told me what happened. Everything is ridiculous. Something's clearly not right, and we need to get you away from here."

"Tsunade said she made plans to help me escape," Sakura said. Naruto nodded.

"We have a plan, and I'm coming with you," Naruto said, clasping Sakura's hands and kissing her on the forehead through the bars. Sakura closed her eyes, and shook her head.

"You'll die though, without Sasuke to help keep you alive," Sakura said, slightly bitter.

"I have to die sometime," Naruto said, grinning widely, completely side stepping her comment. Sakura frowned, wondering if Sasuke had told Naruto. Tsunade had said that Sasuke had finally confessed, but Naruto's complete and utter reaction to Sasuke's name seemed a bit odd to her. "Let me just take care of a few things and then I'll be back to break you out of here," Naruto said as he kissed her once more through the bars, and grasped her hands encouragingly before leaving the cell holding area. Sakura was unsurprised to feel another presence slip in almost immediately after Naruto left.

"Here to tell me to make Naruto stay?" Sakura asked bitterly as she looked over at Sasuke. Sasuke was quiet for a moment. He didn't look at her as she adjusted her wrists from the shackles binding her chakra. He carelessly leaned his head against the wall of the cell.

"He'd rather leave with you and die than stay here with me and live," Sasuke murmured. Sakura swallowed. Clearly Naruto did know what leaving Konoha meant if Sasuke said that Naruto would rather be with her, even if it meant death.

"You don't need to tell me that he's going to die with me. I already know that. I'm going to tell him to stay," Sakura said, turning her head away from Sasuke. "I won't be the cause of his death."

"You'll be killing him in other ways if you leave," Sasuke said. "He has to go with you." Sakura's head jerked up to look at Sasuke, wondering if she had heard him right.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto has to go with you. He's already said that. He'd rather die than be without you," Sasuke said, his voice sounding strange. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw a tear glisten at the corner of Sasuke's eye and then spill down his cheek.

"I won't let him come with me only to die because you can't-" Sakura said, the words dying on her lips. "Because you can't...do what you need to...in order to keep him alive."

Sasuke laughed hollowly, and Sakura stepped back, taken aback from the unnerving sound.

"I'll be going with you, of course. Do you think I would let him die?" Sasuke said. Sakura opened her mouth slightly, surprised. "Even if Naruto hates me, I won't let him die." Sakura shook her head.

"He'll never be able to become Hokage if he leaves, especially if the three of us leave. No one will believe it wasn't planned. If I leave, on my own, I can wait for Tsunade to clear my name. But don't think I won't be back," Sakura warned. "I'm not giving you the benefit of thinking you're the only one who thinks they know what is best for Naruto. I love Naruto. I love him more than you do. I'd rather be away for him for a year come back to him, knowing that he will be able to fulfill his dream."

"You really are an idiot. He already said he wants to come with you. He wants to make sure that you're alive and well. You'll be killing him on the inside if you don't let him come with you," Sasuke said.

"And you're an idiot! I can take care of myself, and don't you remember what Naruto has looked forward to for his entire life? Becoming Hokage means everything to him. I will not let him give up his dream to be with me for a year or two. That will slowly kill him. He may love me, hell, he may even care about you, but he cares about Konoha even more than he will ever admit. Konoha is his first love, his first need, and it will slowly kill him for years and years if he is away for this place for good. Slowly killing him for a year is better than slowly killing him for the rest of his life," Sakura said, knowingly. "I'll be back, don't think I won't be. I can't let you have him all to yourself after all. I know you'll manage to twist things."

"If I help you escape now, you have to promise to come back," Sasuke said. Sakura laughed hollowly.

"And here I thought you were this selfish bastard all this past month. You really do care about him, don't you?" Sakura said. Sasuke didn't respond. "I'll come back, but you have to promise me you'll take care of him, and keep him alive while I'm gone."

Sasuke smirked.

"Aren't you worried I'll make him forget all about you while you're gone?"

"He will never forget. And he'll be glad to see me when I get back."

"And what if he's changed his mind? What if he wants me in the end?" Sasuke asked seriously. Sakura shook her head.

"I get it now. You want me to come back for your own closure, don't you? You know that my leaving will only make him miss me more. You need me to come back in order to see who he chooses."

"Just because I don't want you dead and that I don't want Naruto to suffer doesn't mean I still don't want Naruto for myself."

"Naruto's still mine."

"We'll see about that."

* * *

As Naruto ran through the halls back to the cell that the ANBU were keeping Sakura in, the force of an explosion blew him back. Sirens and whistles sounded immediately after the blast.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled in terror. Had they tried to kill her before the execution?! No! He jumped to his feet and ran faster than he had ever run before in his life.

ANBU had already swarmed through though, and he was not allowed entrance.

"Sakura! Sakura!" He called frantically. "Where's Sakura?" he demanded from the ANBU.

"Let him through!" Naruto whipped his head around to see Tsunade running down the hallway, looking just as confused as Naruto was, and quite as upset. Naruto's heart leapt to his throat. Even Tsunade hadn't seemed to be prepared for this type of escape. Once the ANBU realized that the Hokage was giving him a direct order an ANBU that wasn't one of the two that had been key players in instigating the entire mess in the first place let Naruto through. Naruto shoved past him, and skidded to a halt in front of Sakura's cell with Tsunade right behind him. His eyes darted around to see if he could spot Sakura, but even with all the debris he could see that Sakura was no where to be found. Under a second glance he realized that there had been multiple explosions. The cell was still locked shut, but there was another explosion on the ceiling of the cell wall, and while Naruto couldn't see up the hole, he could tell that the explosions had been made in order to allow Sakura to escape by going directly up the three floors in took to get to the ground level.

Tsunade let out an audible sigh of relief next to Naruto, and Naruto felt calmed somewhat until he realized that Sakura was running away without him.

He ran past Tsunade and down the corridors, shoving through the ANBU coming the opposite way, and headed to the ground level. He surveyed the damage on each floor, hearing the curses and the confusion of the people on the other floors, but not really paying much attention to them.

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled frantically, as he reached the ground floor and headed out the door.

A hand to his wrist jerked Naruto back, and he reacted by throwing a punch at whoever dare detain him.

"She's gone," Sasuke said as he caught Naruto's punch. Upon seeing it was Sasuke who held his wrist, Naruto's expression became completely blank. "She's gone for now. She didn't want you to follow. She wanted to make sure that you stayed here to protect Konoha. I've been instructed to kick your ass if you disobey her," Sasuke said. Naruto blinked.

"And why the hell should I believe anything you say?" Naruto said, his voice still somehow emotionless.

"You shouldn't," Sasuke murmured, and he handed Naruto a letter in Sakura's handwriting.

_Naruto, my love, my dearest husband,_

If you follow me, my name will never be cleared because people will really believe that we have conspired together. I will be back, I promise. The ANBU and government acted too quickly for Tsunade's liking. They're not listening to her side of the story about what happened, and she - and I as well - fear that this may be a scrapped together attempt to discredit you for become Hokage. I won't let that happen.

_I promise I am not gone for good. I will be back within a year. If I get word that everything has been worked out sooner, I will come back immediately. Until I see you again, keep yourself alive and out of trouble._

_I love you._

_Much Love,_

_Sakura_

_P.S. I've given Sasuke permission to keep you out of trouble. If he abuses this privilege, I will abuse him upon my return._

Even though the handwriting was written hastily, Naruto knew that it was Sakura's.

"Naruto-" Sasuke began.

"Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it," Naruto said. He turned his back on Sasuke, and walked back inside the Hokage Tower, intent on getting some answers from Tsunade - or anyone. He was tired of being lied to and kept in the dark.

* * *

I have a feeling some people will have loved this chapter. I have a feeling some people will have despised this chapter. I personally found it very daunting to write. In fact, I wrote a one shot called "Shit Happens" in order to help me write this. I wrote over 4,000 words in a 24 hour period after writing that fic. It's a comedy fic, and if you want to check it out, feel free to look on my profile for it.

And just as an FYI, Sakura is not out of this story, not by a long shot.

Also, for those of you who have read Identity Crisis, check out Starlight Devil's amazing artwork! Delete the spaces in the link: http:// starlightdevil. deviantart. com/ art/ Naruto-Identity-Crisis-75808065 for Identity Crises. Check it out, and thanks Starlight Devil! (who also goes by Jave-Chan). Hope you enjoyed this chapter! - Jelp


	9. Chapter 9: Sasuke's Yin to Naruto's Yang

**Mine**

**Chapter 9: Sasuke's Yin to Naruto's Yang**

Naruto could merely stare at his hands as he listened to everything that Tsunade told him. Last night he had originally come to the Hokage Tower to demand answers from Tsunade in order to see if what Sasuke had told him was true or not. Naturally everything that had happened with Sakura had driven it to the back of his mind. Instead of instantly demanding answers upon seeing Tsunade, last night upon seeing the Godaime Hokage, he and Tsunade had immediately begun making preparations. They had made sure that when he left with her that they had a communication system set-up in order to let them know what was going on.

That had all been shot to hell when Sakura had escaped without him – though it appeared that Sasuke had helped her escape. Naruto wasn't sure how he felt about that. Sakura had clearly accepted Sasuke's help over his own, and there was something unsettling in that knowledge. His feeling of helplessness increased at the knowledge that she had wanted him to stay in Konoha to stay alive and had taken Sasuke's aid instead of his own.

Why did everyone think they knew what was best for him? Didn't he even get a say in anything? Listening to Tsunade explain that she had been trying to protect him from feeling helpless, from feeling like there was anything wrong made him feel angry. He honestly appreciated that his friends were concerned for him, he was very grateful for that, but wasn't it his choice what he wanted?

"So Sasuke was acting on your orders?" Naruto asked. Tsunade nodded. Naruto had had a hard time believing Sasuke when he had said that it was a mission. It was such an absurd situation that who in their right mind could have believed there was such a mission? "You mean to tell me, that the only way I can be kept alive is if Sasuke..." Naruto trailed off, unable to voice his thoughts. He made a few hand gestures that Tsunade understood well enough to nod her head in confirmation.

"Yes."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Naruto said. "It's utter _bullshit_."

"Well this bullshit has kept you alive," Tsunade said, somehow managing to make her comment sound much lighter than it normally would have.

"I don't understand why no one told me. You and Sasuke have been lying to me for three years," Naruto accused.

"Naturally Sakura wasn't so happy to hear about it either," Tsunade said wryly, as she gently ran her finger down her slightly crooked nose, indicating that was what had sparked their "fight."

"Did Sasuke want to do the mission?" Naruto asked. Tsunade shook her head.

"Not initially. But after a while, he became extremely enthusiastic about it," Tsunade said. Naruto raised his eyebrows, and Tsunade elaborated before he had a chance to ask a question. "I'd had a feeling for a long time with the way that you were so overtly _obsessed_ over Sasuke, that you might have feelings for him."

"He's like my brother, of course I have feelings for him," Naruto said automatically, and then added, "even if he is a lying son of a bitch, and I feel like I want to punch his lights out."

"Naruto, those aren't the feelings I mean. I thought there might be some romantic interest on your part and on his part. I thought of the two of you, he would be the less likely to say something. I thought I was giving him the opportunity to talk to you about it. I didn't realize you were still so enamored with Sakura," Tsunade said.

"It wasn't your business to play matchmaker with me!" Naruto yelled. Tsunade didn't flinch and looked completely unlike herself in Naruto's mind's eye. Normally she would have given some smart-ass retort, but instead she just looked sad.

"It wasn't my business. I made a gamble, and as usual, I lost," Tsunade said. Naruto turned away, wishing that Tsunade hadn't referred to his relationships like gambling. He instead focused his eyes on a bookshelf off to the side.

"Sakura's gone," Naruto said mournfully. Tsunade nodded. "Why did she leave without me?" Naruto asked miserably, staring at the books, as though one of them could possibly give him the answer.

"She wanted you to have a clean slate for when you become Hokage," Tsunade murmured. Naruto rolled his eyes, and he was sure Tsunade could see his eyes roll even if his head was turned somewhat.

"Of course, but there hasn't even been a search for a Rokudaime Hokage yet," Naruto said.

"That's because I've already named you as Rokudaime if I die suddenly," Tsunade said. Naruto whipped his head back from where he had been examining the bookshelf.

"What?" Naruto gasped. Tsunade nodded.

"Do you think I would have taken such lengthy precautions to save your life without due cause? Think about a few other things here Naruto. How would it look to people if they knew that the Rokudaime has to have a man shove a dick up his ass in order to keep him alive? There would be a plethora of people would use that against you as a weakness, the least of whom being Sasuke himself. I know you and he have always been close, but think of your past. He could – and has – used his power against you."

"Though he didn't really use it this time. He could have, but he didn't," Naruto said. Tsunade raised her eyebrows obviously surprised at the way Naruto was defending Sasuke.

"So you're not mad at him?" Tsunade asked.

"Mad at him? Of course I'm mad at him! I'm beyond pissed off at the selfish bastard. He didn't tell me what was going on. He _lied_ to me! If he really has been keeping me alive, why hasn't he just told me? He's supposed to be my friend; my best friend. Why couldn't he have asked me? He's been toying with my mind. If he had just told me, Sakura would have known, and she wouldn't have left! And you're a liar too!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto-"

"You don't understand Baa-chan. If this was reversed, I would have asked him. If this was reversed, I would have given Sasuke a choice. I thought he would have done the same. Instead he's been keeping this to himself. He could have alleviated my worry, but he didn't, and I don't get why. He has this supposed "hold" over me, yet he was keeping it to himself. Secretive. It just...it just hurts," Naruto said, and he grasped his hand over his heart.

"Have you thought about why he kept it a secret?" Tsunade asked.

"No," Naruto said. Tsunade sighed.

"Didn't you listen to anything I said about him having feelings for you?"

"That can't be it. If he did, he would have told me. And besides, I know he doesn't. Something else is going on, and whatever it is, I don't like it."

Tsunade merely shook her head. Naruto wasn't making sense.

"Naruto, your thoughts are all jumbled. You're not making sense. You're running things around in circles. You're completely ignoring that Sasuke's in love with you."

"No he's not. That's stupid. He's a guy, and I'm a guy. I like girls, and I'm in love with Sakura. Sasuke can't be in love with me. I'd know if he was."

Tsunade shook her head. Naruto was purposefully not allowing himself to believe that Sasuke had feelings for him because it would put Naruto at a complete impasse. Tsunade had a strong feeling that if Naruto had had the opportunity, he would have chosen to be more romantically involved with Sasuke than Sakura, even if Naruto himself hadn't known it. She realized she was getting no where with this topic though, so she decided to at least give Naruto a bit more of an upper hand over Sasuke. It was so weird to see Naruto be so close to Sasuke, and know him so intimately, yet know very little about Sasuke's psychology. She would never understand Naruto's obsession with Sasuke. Even now, when Naruto was clearly angry with Sasuke for lying to him, even though he was hurting because Sakura had left him behind because of Sasuke's (and her own for that matter) lack of honesty, he was still defending Sasuke.

"I think I explained to you already your imbalance of chakra, haven't I?"

"Yes," Naruto said impatiently.

"I also told you that Sasuke has a similar imbalance, correct?"

"I have too much Yang chakra, and he has too much Yin charka, yes, you told me," Naruto snapped.

"I already explained the complications too much Yang chakra has for you, but I haven't told you the problems that having too much Yin chakra has had for Sasuke," Tsunade said.

"Problems for Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Tsunade nodded.

"You said that if you were in Sasuke's place, you would have given him the choice. Let's just switch the scenarios. You see, Sasuke shouldn't have been using his sharingan in order to make you unaware of what was going on. I even warned him – though I don't think he understood why. I would have told him if he had confessed that he was having poor eyesight, which I suspect, but he has not had the desire to confide in me about. You see, I told him to tell you so he wouldn't have to use the sharingan to force you, " Tsunade said.

"He's saving my life. He wouldn't have had to force me if the asshole has just explained the situation," Naruto grumbled. Tsunade continued as though she hadn't heard his interruption.

"As you may or not know, yin and yang are also sometimes separated into terms heaven and earth, spirituality (or mentality) and physical (or corporal). As you probably know, Sasuke's curse seal is the Heaven seal, a yin seal which gives him imbalance. Now, a major difference between yin and yang is its point of origin. Yin is secreted from the intestines while yang is secreted from the pores. The yin chakra moves within the five viscera, the heart, liver, lungs, spleen and right kidney. His chakra points are being subjected to a much greater concentration of yin chakra – and since yin chakra is related to the mind, his emotions and moods are greatly affected by the offset. Yin chakra tends to make someone more passive, cold, and give off an air of darkness-"

"That's Sasuke alright. So you mean to tell me he's such a broody ass of a bastard because he has too much yin chakra?" Naruto asked. Tsunade finally allowed herself a smirk.

"Yang chakra is bright, active, and strong. You do have an excess of those qualities, so I have a feeling your own imbalance might have affected your moods and personality somewhat as well. Anyway-" Tsunade said, her voice once again serious and more in her "medical nin" tone, "he has a different way to release his chakra than you do."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"What I mean is that you cannot help Sasuke with his imbalance the same way he helps you. The yin chakra is stemmed from the intestines and is released through his spleen chakra point, aka his reproductive organ. Your yang chakra is released through your pores, but not released enough. Believe it or not, you need to sweat during sex in order to release your yang chakra. If the places were reversed, and he had as much excessive yin chakra as you have yang, he'd have to drink pints of your sweat in order to off-set his balance."

"That's gross."

"I didn't make the laws of nature. Don't complain to me about them."

"It's still gross," Naruto added. Tsunade put a hand to her head.

"The point I'm trying to make is that while your imbalance is much more serious on a physical level, Sasuke's lesser imbalance yin chakra causes a list of other problems. I'll let you look at the list yourself," Tsunade said, taking out a piece of paper, and handing it to Naruto.

Naruto read the list, a lot of the problems reminding him of Sasuke, and his eyes widened at just how many of the problems he felt Sasuke suffered from.

Depression, lack of grounding, lack of inspiration (due to being disconnected from the spiritual source), headaches, poor eyesight, lack of concentration, difficulty communicating, ego, emotions get caught in the throat, anger, heart problems, rigidity, lack of love, lack of will, overemphasis on power, anger, poor digestion, eating disorders, fear, hate, sexual problems, jealousy, possessiveness, uterine or bladder problems, lower back pain, violence, anger, constipation, and survival fears. (1)

"Of these I think the one that has been affected the most due to his chakra imbalance is poor eyesight. While he has yet to tell me of his decreasing eyesight, I noticed that he seems to have been having more problems with eyesight than he lets on. The defocusing of his eyes, the few times I've seen him put a hand to rub at his eyes. From what Kakashi has told me, the mangekyou sharingan has a history of causing sharingan users to go blind." Naruto's head shot up at that remark.

"Sasuke doesn't have the mangekyou sharingan," Naruto said defensively.

"No. But he is having eyesight problems. I am sure he thinks he is going blind. He isn't. Just has poor eyesight. I believe he has been willing (though mistaken) to risk his eyesight to make sure he keeps you alive without your knowledge. He has no idea that it's his own imbalance that's causing it. My guess is that he has an inkling that it somehow related to how he used the sharingan to have sex with you. Which is true, to an extent. His poor eyesight is increased due to how he releases his yin chakra through his orgasm, and the increased levels of yin his chakra the flow to his eyes, thus resulting in greater damage to them," Tsunade explained.

"So his attempt to 'save me' is actually hurting him more?" Naruto asked. Tsunade shrugged.

"It's possible. It's also possible that his imbalance would have damaged his eyes anyway. Even so, my guess is that he thinks it's somehow related to using his sharingan on you. Now tell me Naruto, do you really think Sasuke would give up his eyesight without a good reason?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto looked down at the list in his head. _Depression...lack of inspiration...poor eyesight...difficulty communicating, ego, emotions get caught in the throat...rigid, lack of love, lack of will, overemphasis on power, anger...fear, hate...jealousy, possessiveness...survival fears._

"If your life did not depend on Sasuke, but rather his depended on yours to help get rid of these, what would you do? And would you tell him about how weak he is without you?" Tsunade asked. Naruto looked at the list.

_Lack of love._

"I would tell him. He would deserve the truth, even if it's gross that he has to drink my sweat. I wouldn't like, collect my sweat and put it in his tea without telling him or anything. Even so it's still not the same," Naruto said.

"Yes, _you_ would tell him. But don't you think part of Sasuke realizes he needs you to live just as much you need him? Sasuke isn't you. What would Sasuke do?"

Naruto once again looked at the list. _Overemphasis on power...difficulty communicating...survival fears._ Naruto snorted.

"He wouldn't tell me because he's scared for himself. Scared I'd reject him somehow. If I had too much yin, he'd put it in my ramen without telling me." Naruto made a disgusted face at that thought. "He'd probably not tell me because he'd be scared I'd reject his help."

"And to him, you did. You chose Sakura over him, and it was hard for him to take because he loves you," Tsunade said. Naruto narrowed his eyes, and slammed his hand down on Tsunade's table.

"What are you getting at?! Are you rooting for Sakura or for Sasuke? You're supposed to be rooting for Sakura! She's your pupil. You supposedly hate Sasuke, yet here you are defending him for me. He fucking lied to me and fucking _raped_ me. What if I would have rather died?" Naruto asked.

"You don't mean that," Tsunade whispered, her eyes wide.

"The hell I don't! I love Sakura, and I would die to be with her. I'd rather be with her than Sasuke. Sasuke doesn't love me. He's just possessive, that's all," Naruto said, pointing to the word on the list in front of him. "He has power issues, he always had. He's my friend, but he doesn't love me. Why do you keep saying he loves me?"

"Because it's easier to hope that he loves you a fraction of how much you love him."

Naruto took a step back as though Tsunade had slapped him.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I think you love Sasuke. You've been obsessed with him for the majority of your life. It also means I think you two need each other. His yin to your yang. You're his other half."

"My other half left because Sasuke and you both lied," Naruto said. With that, he turned from Tsunade's office and stormed off.

"Don't forget you have a mission tomorrow to go to Sand and inform them that Sakura might come to them for help!" Tsunade called after him, but he was already out the door. She shook her head. She really hoped he wasn't going to do anything stupid.

* * *

Sasuke was surprised when there was a banging on his front door, and even more surprised to feel the strong chakra spike on the other side.

To Sasuke, it looked like Naruto was just as emotionless to see him as he had been the last time. To Sasuke, Naruto's face was still the same expressionless mask that he had worn since after Naruto had punched Sasuke to snap him out of his stupor. Sasuke was surprised to see Naruto standing at his door. He was surprised that Naruto had come back to him after everything. He was scared stiff that Naruto's emotionless mask meant that he hated Sasuke beyond words. He knew Naruto blamed him for Sakura leaving. It was, after all, partially his fault.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, opening the door wider. But Naruto didn't talk to him. He strode by Sasuke, not bothering to even glance at him. Sasuke stared wordlessly as Naruto continued to walk through his house. The stunned shinobi followed his unspeaking friend to his bedroom. His face still blank, still not speaking, Naruto began to strip. Sasuke's eyes went wide, wondering if he was really seeing Naruto stripping in his room. There didn't seem to be any logic behind what Naruto was doing, and Sasuke could only stare open mouthed as he watched Naruto strip off the last of his clothes. His friend's body was as perfect as ever, yet Naruto's body was as unresponsive as Sasuke had recalled seeing it in ages. Naruto's cock hung completely limp and lifeless, and Sasuke was sure that this was no mirage or fantasy because in all of his dreams and fantasies, Naruto came to him willingly, happily, and utterly hard. Not like this: emotionless and un-wanting.

Still, Naruto lied down on his stomach on Sasuke's bed, crossing his arms underneath his chin, staring at nothing in particular. Sasuke didn't dare move, unsure of what to do, unsure of Naruto's intentions. Was this some sort of test? Was Naruto giving him an opportunity to redeem himself? 'Resist me and I'll forgive you?' Sasuke stood, desperately wracking his mind, cursing his supposed genius at his inability to understand what Naruto was doing.

Minutes passed. Sasuke watched as the clock on his bedside table ticked by a full twenty minutes before Naruto finally spoke.

"I haven't got all day," Naruto's voice was low, and seemed extremely sad.

"I-I don't understand," Sasuke finally had to admit. Naruto finally lifted his head off from his arms, and looked over his exposed shoulder to glare at Sasuke. Sasuke's heart fluttered that Naruto's face had finally lost its emotionless expression, even if it was to stare at him angrily.

"Don't you have a mission to continue to fulfill?" Naruto demanded. He turned his head away from Sasuke. Horrible realization filled Sasuke, even before Naruto continued. "Now's best for me. I have a mission to go on that I'll be gone for a few days. Don't get me wrong, I think you're an ass, but I do appreciate you keeping me alive. And you did promise Sakura you were going to keep me alive, right?" Naruto questioned, his eyes once again set at staring at nothing in particular, and certainly not looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke's hands began to shake with anger at himself and with the utter pain the he felt. Naruto had come to him because he had to out of necessity – not because he wanted to. Naruto was going to be fully awake, fully aware, and fully unresponsive.

Sasuke took a deep breath, and slowly removed his clothes, anything to delay him from having to do what he knew he had to. He hadn't truly regarded having sex with Naruto as just a mission in so long. He had regarded it as his only opportunity to make love to the one he desperately couldn't live without. He saw it as a way he could make Naruto feel good physically, even if it was only a tenth as good as Naruto made him feel emotionally. Making love to Naruto was a blessing, had been a silent burden that had made him stronger and made him feel worthy. Forcing himself on Naruto – though he knew that's what he had been doing - hadn't felt like this before. This felt forced. This felt like true rape. Naruto knew. Naruto was there, of his own accord even if unwillingly so. But he was there unwillingly in the sense that he was only there to live – not because he wanted Sasuke.

Finally unclothed, Sasuke looked down at his own body, looking at his pathetically limp member. Sasuke tried to will erotic images of their past experiences to his mind, willing himself to become hard. He knew he needed to orgasm to "fulfill his mission," but the images weren't working. His body refused to become aroused when Naruto was so unhappy. Sasuke wrapped his hand firmly around his cock, but even pumping himself did little to get him to feel what he knew he needed to feel.

"Damnit," Sasuke cursed weakly under his breath. Tsunade had given him aphrodisiac pills (real ones this time) a while ago when she had learned that he hadn't planned on telling Naruto. She had made it seem like what he was doing should be more mission-like than what he had been doing. Sasuke had almost thrown the pills away because he thought he would never need help being aroused around Naruto. How wrong he had been! And how grateful he was that he had them still. He quickly exited his bedroom, dashing down to his kitchen, and popped several pills down, not bothering to read her recommended dosage. He ran back to his room, fearing that Naruto would have left in the time that he had been gone, only to see Naruto looking as completely and utterly emotionless as he had when Sasuke had left.

Sasuke had half a mind to hit Naruto just to get him to react. This was not the Naruto he knew. The Naruto he knew would have been yelling, protesting, angry, hurt – _something_! This was far worse than any vile words he felt Naruto ought to be yelling at him, far worse than any physical pain that Naruto could have inflicted upon him. Sasuke felt so alone in Naruto's silence. He wondered if Naruto knew that he was making him feel so utterly alone. Knowing Naruto, and his attuned senses in reading how people were feeling, he knew perfectly well how much he was isolating Sasuke. It was clear, despite his seemingly emotionless state, Naruto was still pissed off at him.

Grabbing the lube he kept in the nightstand next to his bed, Sasuke popped open the cap, pouring some onto his hand. He coated himself, relaxing almost slightly as his cock finally flatted to life. He then took some of the lube, and began to press his fingers to Naruto's entrance.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, his voice annoyed.

"Preparing your body," Sasuke said mechanically.

"What for?" Naruto asked, still annoyed.

"What for? So you don't tear," Sasuke explained.

"You're taking too long. Skip it. I need to leave soon," Naruto said.

"You'll tear," Sasuke repeated. Naruto turned to face Sasuke, his annoyance now clear on his face.

"I heal fast. Skip it," Naruto said, once again turning away from Sasuke. Sasuke threw the bottle back into the top drawer, his hands and body shaking. He had had sex with Naruto on several occasions when he hadn't prepared Naruto's body for him. He recalled in perfect detail the way that Naruto seemed to enjoy those more, and it was almost a silent taunt for him, wondering if Naruto had any idea how much his own body seemed to enjoy the experiences even more when Sasuke took Naruto unprepared, but he doubted it. No. Naruto was asking him to knowingly risk tearing his body.

Sasuke could never have imagined feeling so horrible as his body felt so good while he entered Naruto's body. Naruto's face still showed no emotion as Sasuke began to move inside him. Sasuke bit his lip, half expecting Naruto to moan in pleasure, to make some sort of sound, to see some sort of reaction like he normally had in the past, but none came.

After over _fifteen_ minutes of continuous thrusting, continuous movement, Sasuke knew that he wasn't going to be able to orgasm. The pills may have gotten him hard, and the movements may have kept him hard, but it was Naruto's reaction, the idea that he was pleasing Naruto that had always gotten him off.

Now, he feared he was hurting Naruto. The idea that he hadn't prepared Naruto's body and was still thrusting in dry after so long, the idea that Naruto hated him just made it impossible for his body to want to continue, despite some of the pleasure. He was about to give up, about to explain, when Naruto spoke.

"Hurry it up. I told you I haven't got all day," Naruto said, his voice low. Sasuke's movements stopped for a moment, and even inside of Naruto he could feel his body want to quit, until he risked glancing at Naruto's face. He nearly sighed in relief. Naruto's face was still set forward, but his eyes were closed, and he was biting his lip, but even Sasuke could tell that Naruto wasn't in pain. His voice had come out low and not annoyed because Naruto was enjoying what Sasuke was doing to him.

Naruto was enjoying it – even if he wasn't meaning to – and that was all that mattered to Sasuke. He picked up his speed, his troubled mind finally willing to co-operate with his wanting body. It only took another minute for Sasuke to finally orgasm, his eyes closed, silently wording Naruto's name in ecstasy as his body slammed forward. He wrenched open his eyes, looking at Naruto's face, seeing that Naruto's eyes were still closed, seeing him panting slightly, though trying hard not to, his mouth opened in a silent scream of pleasure. Sasuke finished riding his orgasm, and pulled slowly out of Naruto. Naruto slowly opened his eyes, turning his face away from Sasuke, but Sasuke could see Naruto's profile in enough detail to see the emotions flickering across his face. Sasuke smirked.

Sasuke was about to ask if Naruto wanted him to help him get-off, but the smirk vanished from his face when Naruto got up abruptly, the front of his body completely blocked from view as he hastily pulled his clothes back on.

"I'll be back in a week. Next time, figure out a way to fulfill your mission faster. When I become Hokage, I won't tolerate such lack of discipline and preparation," Naruto said icily as he finished dressing. He didn't bother to look at Sasuke as he walked by him. Sasuke could merely stand stunned. Naruto's voice had sounded different, completely unlike Naruto. If he hadn't seen Naruto's lips moving, he would have thought it had come from a different person.

Sasuke stood stark naked in his room, the smell of sex still lingering. If it weren't for the fact that Naruto still needed him to live, he would have taken a kunai to his heart just to stop the exploding pain he felt.

* * *

As he walked through Sasuke's house, Naruto's facade finally crumbled. The emotions were too overwhelming for him. He was never one to bottle anything up, and it was only a matter of time before everything exploded. He wished he could have waited until he left Sasuke's house – just a little bit further – but he had been bottled up for too long.

"Kuso!" Naruto yelled, nearly crying as he lashed out, punching a hole in one of Sasuke's walls. He took deep shuddering breaths. He was angry, _so angry_, and mostly with himself.

Why had he enjoyed that so much?

He was married to Sakura and nothing – _nothing_ – that they had ever done had made him feel so much as what Sasuke had just done to him. He hadn't even wanted it – or at least, he hadn't thought he had.

When Sasuke had tried to "stretch" him, placing his fingers on his ass had somehow made his body come utterly alive under Sasuke's touch. No matter what he had tried to do, his body knew Sasuke's touch, and he craved it. It had cost him all his will power not to moan at the foreign, yet somehow extremely familiar, touch. He had demanded Sasuke to get on with it because Naruto had been so afraid he would want to touch Sasuke back, so afraid that he would break his vows to Sakura.

Sakura. Naruto cursed. He had practically forgotten about her. Naruto had tried hard imagining Sakura's face while Sasuke entered him, but he hadn't been able to. All he could remember was the image he had seen of Sasuke when he had woken up with Sasuke inside him, the way that Sasuke's face had seemed so blissful and perfect. The movements between the two times had been different. Naruto had woken up pleasured in the heat of Sasuke's passions. This time, Sasuke had been reluctant and scared, as though afraid Naruto would disappear.

He was a horrible person for enjoying how much he had controlled Sasuke, wasn't he? Naruto punched another hole in the wall before storming out of Sasuke's house, slamming the door as he left.

There was a part of Naruto that had wanted to tell Sasuke to lick him, to taste his body, perhaps see if lapping at his sweating body would alleviate some of his eyesight problems, but Naruto hadn't dared. He feared he would have liked Sasuke's tongue on his body too much.

His strides were long as he mentally yelled at himself for enjoying the way that Sasuke paid attention to him, for the way that he had seemingly controlled Sasuke.

Tsunade had been right about him, been right about how much he was somehow obsessed over Sasuke. He yelled at himself for the way he had ached so long to know that he was as important to Sasuke as Sasuke had been to him. Yelled at himself for having craved Sasuke's attentions since they were children, craving his friend's presence, spent three years of his life chasing after him, obsessed with him. Yelled at himself for only feeling okay when Sasuke was around, knowing that Sasuke was the only one that had ever understood him in the way he needed to be understood.

He yelled at himself for being mentally unfaithful to Sakura, whom he also loved. She had been there for him when he had needed someone too. He loved her. Naruto knew that, but – he also loved Sasuke. Were they different kinds of love? Were they the same kind of love? And whom did he feel stronger about?

Naruto cursed at himself, knowing which feeling was stronger, which one controlled him, and had controlled him since he had been a lonely child. He yelled at himself for being so easily controlled by one person.

He yelled at himself again for being unfaithful to Sakura. Sakura had fought for him, had made sure that he would fulfill his dream. Yet in some ways, he felt betrayed. She had left without him. He was mad at her for leaving without him.

He was furious that Tsunade had seemed to know that there was something more between him and Sasuke than even Naruto had realized. He hated not knowing if Sasuke really had feelings for him or not. Was it just some sick twist of imbalance of yin and yang? Naruto was just furious at the way he was no longer in control of his life.

And he was furious at Sasuke for the way Sasuke controlled his body – and his heart.

**Next Chapter: Yet To Be Decided**

* * *

(1) Feel free to e-mail me for the website which I got all these symptoms from.

Yes, I know I'm taking some liberties with chakra again, but since there is nothing saying otherwise, and from what evidence I have found in my research, it's not implausible.

What did you think? - Jelp


	10. Chapter 10: Figuring Things Out

A/N: I like this chapter.

**Mine**

**Chapter 10: Figuring Things Out**

Tsunade's words from their conversation the day before rang in his head, taunting him, making him doubt himself.

_"Why do you keep saying he loves me?"_

_"Because it's easier to hope that he loves you a fraction of how much you love him."_

The idea that Sasuke had romantic feelings for him was something foreign to Naruto, and the idea that Naruto had romantic feelings for Sasuke seemed ridiculous. Yet the though would not leave Naruto's head the entire time he was away on his mission to Suna in order to inform Gaara that Sakura might come seek his help.

Naruto felt strange the entire trip to Suna. He wanted to see Sakura on the way, wanted to see her in order to go with her so she wouldn't be alone, but a part of him didn't want to see her at the same time. He had said that he would go with her, and instead, she had agreed to have Sasuke help her escape rather than let him leave with her. He was her husband, and she couldn't even let him help her escape?

Naruto shook his head, realizing he was being foolish. Sakura had done it for his own good because Naruto had to stay where Sasuke was in order to stay alive.

_Sasuke._

Naruto would have closed his eyes if he hadn't been so hell bent on delivering his message to Suna. It was almost pointless in some regards that he go to inform Gaara. A messenger bird had already been sent, but the idea that Sakura might actually be there already had made Tsunade send him as well. There was a chance that Sakura wouldn't go to Suna since she had already deviated from the original plan that Tsunade had discussed with her. Apparently Tsunade had told Sakura that she should go there, though he hadn't recalled Tsunade discussing that with him, and Sakura hadn't mentioned it when he had seen her, but Tsunade must have known what she was talking about.

Naruto would deliver his message personally to Suna, and then do some scouting out around the area to see if he could find Sakura. If he couldn't in a week's time, then he would have to go back to Konoha – as he had promised Sasuke.

_Sasuke._

Naruto's eyes fluttered, reminding himself that he couldn't close them. He couldn't close them, despite the way his body was betraying him. He couldn't stop to think about Sasuke. He couldn't think about Tsunade's words that Sasuke liked – no loved – him. He couldn't think about the way that he had been so obsessed about Sasuke for years. He couldn't think about the way that Sasuke had made his body feel euphoric when Sasuke had entered his body, even when Naruto had tried so hard not to feel the pleasure.

Most of all, he couldn't think the traitorous thoughts that he wanted to possibly be with Sasuke more than he wanted to be with his own wife.

* * *

"Sakura really would never have been executed for what she did. It was a bit of a stretch in order to get her to leave," Shizune murmured. Tsunade looked at Shizune from her desk as she shuffled through paperwork. She didn't bother to look up at Shizune.

"I know," Tsunade said as she signed a few papers. "But it was the best thing that I could come up with on the spot. Sakura might have been Naruto's undoing if she had stayed," Tsunade said. She stopped shuffling through the papers, and looked saddened. "She is my subordinate, and I care about her, but I will not let her interfere with Naruto when it could mean the cost of his life. I could see Naruto doing something stupid in order not to go back on his word to break his wedding vows. And it will kill him on the inside now that he essentially has to chose between Sakura and Sasuke."

Shizune bit her lip.

"Are you sure this is a good idea though? Don't you think any of them will find it odd that you couldn't pull rank among your ANBU and stop the supposed execution?" Shizune asked. Tsunade waved her hand dismissively.

"By the time they figure out that Sakura's life would never have been in any danger, Naruto and Sasuke should have had enough time together for Naruto to realize who he truly wants. According to the ANBU report I received this morning, Sakura is heading to Wave Country in hiding. I told Naruto to go to Suna so that way he thinks he has an idea where she might be. Making it a mission allows me to control how long he will be out looking for her. If I had let him be, he would have searched high and low with no direction to where she was headed. That could have taken him weeks, or, since he might know something about her I don't know, he might have a hunch as to where she would head on her own. If he thinks that I am concerned for where she will be, and I give him the direction, then he is more likely to take looking for her in Suna more seriously, even though I know she's not there."

"Aren't you just hurting Naruto in the long run?" Shizune demanded. Tsunade looked up at Shizune.

"How can I hurt him in the long run if he's not even alive in the long run? My priority has, and always will be, to keep him alive." Tsunade .

"But – but couldn't there be a different compromise?" Shizune asked. Tsunade shook her head.

"I'm not just talking about keeping Naruto physically alive, Shizune. Between the two, it's obvious that Naruto wouldn't be able to live without Sasuke more than Sakura, even if Naruto did have a pig-headed moment and insist on going with Sakura. Not to mention the fact that if Sasuke can't have Naruto, I wouldn't be surprised if the bastard committed suicide, and then Naruto would die painfully as his yang chakra consumed his body," Tsunade explained. She looked at the papers in her hand, and then back up at Shizune. "I might be messing things up again; I don't know. I just know that I can't let Naruto die."

"I'm starting to wonder between all of you if you would be the one most damaged if Naruto died. I think you're trying to keep him alive more for your own sake than anyone else's," Shizune said as she turned and left. Tsunade looked out her window, staring at the Hokage mountain where she one day hoped to see Naruto's smiling face carved into the mountainside, overlooking Konoha.

Tsunade had often wondered the same thing as Shizune.

* * *

Sasuke laid on his bed, his half-lidded eyes staring at the ceiling above him. A week had passed since Naruto had told him that he would return to him: return to his bed. He had completed some remedial missions for Tsunade, but she had made sure to set this day aside for him; no missions. He wondered if Tsunade knew that Naruto was coming back today and would – hopefully – come back to _him_.

Sasuke wasn't quite sure what to make of it. When Naruto had left, Sasuke had felt so heartbroken, but the thought that Naruto would return to him somehow made his heart flutter, despite the circumstances. Even so, Sasuke wasn't sure if Naruto would actually come. Sasuke snorted, and immediately changed his train of thought. Naruto had said he would, and Naruto always did what he said he would, so of course he would come. Wasn't that part of the problem? Naruto didn't know how to break his word?

When Naruto _did_ come (since Naruto had promised he would), Sasuke wouldn't allow his friend to be emotionless. He wouldn't stand for it. It would slowly eat away at both of them if this became something dispassionate as a means to fulfill a duty to stay alive.

Sasuke's eyes jolted completely open as he recognized Naruto's chakra signature.

Naruto had come just as he said he would. Even though Naruto always did what he said he would, it was still a thrill to know that Naruto hadn't run completely from him. Sasuke opened the door, not greeting Naruto, nor expecting a greeting. And he didn't get one. Like last time, Naruto walked past Sasuke and straight to the bedroom, his face emotionless. Sasuke followed, watching as Naruto walked as though on a mission himself. He idly wondered if that's all Naruto saw this as: a survival mission. Still, looking at Naruto, Sasuke knew immediately that something in Naruto's mind had been decided. On further inspection, Naruto didn't look quite as emotionless like he had the last time. Instead, he looked more tired than anything.

As Naruto began to take off his clothes, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist making him stop mid-motion. Naruto wrenched his hand out of Sasuke's hand and continued to remove his shirt, glaring at Sasuke. Sasuke's heart leapt. Naruto was acting like Naruto, albeit an annoyed and tired Naruto, but at least more like himself. It gave Sasuke an enormous amount of hope. Once again Sasuke stopped Naruto's actions by grabbing his wrist.

"Teme," Naruto snarled as he once again ripped his hand away from Sasuke's grasp. "What are you doing?" Sasuke almost smirked to hear Naruto sound annoyed at him – to stop Naruto from undressing no less! It was somehow refreshing, and Naruto's annoyance sounded untainted with hatred.

"I can't get off unless I know you're enjoying it," Sasuke informed Naruto. He looked at Naruto with an intensity he hadn't felt in years, watching Naruto's face. Sasuke felt as though he were battling for his life, battling for what he wanted, and he looked at Naruto, his eyes flashing in desperation. Something had changed between this time and the last time, and he wondered what it was.

Naruto took a step forward towards Sasuke; Sasuke had expected Naruto's initial reaction to step backward, away from him instead of closer.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked. It was clear he wasn't going to let Sasuke intimidate him, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let Sasuke control the situation. "You're going to put me under a genjutsu and get away with whatever you want because you're too weak to get it any other way?" Naruto demanded. Naruto looked at Sasuke, looked at the way his eyes were intensely focused and realized he was playing with fire. Naruto didn't flinch when Sasuke's hand shot out and grabbed Naruto's throat. His grip was firm, but loose enough so that Naruto could still breathe.

"I know you're pissed as hell as me. I messed things up. But I did it to fucking save your life. Do you have any idea what I went through the first time? Each time? I'm not my own man, Naruto. You took that from me."

"You're not making sense jackass."

"Damnit Naruto! I need you to survive more than you need me!" Sasuke yelled, his grip on Naruto not increasing, but his firm grasp still in place as he yanked Naruto forward by his neck to be close to him.

"You lied to me. You lied to Sakura," Naruto accused. "And now she's on the run because of it." Sasuke didn't say anything. Naruto closed his eyes. "Why didn't you just tell me?" Naruto asked quietly.

"I was afraid you'd reject me. Like you did," Sasuke murmured.

"I'm married and you're using the sharingan to have a fuck with my body without telling me. What did you expect?" Naruto asked sarcastically, opening his eyes slowly to look at Sasuke again.

"To be grateful perhaps? I'm saving your life," Sasuke said bitterly. "And I suppose I wanted you to choose me over Sakura. But I didn't expect it."

"Choose you over Sakura?" Naruto repeated. Sasuke shook his head.

"You still don't get it do you Naruto? I need you. I _love_ you," Sasuke said. Naruto's eyes widened.

"I l-love Sakura. I'm married to S-Sakura," Naruto said, somehow less enthusiastic than normal, and Sasuke was surprised to note that Naruto's eyes had darted away from his and turned his head to the side. Sasuke released his grip on Naruto's neck, and placed both his hands on Naruto's shoulders, shaking Naruto once to get Naruto to focus his eyes back onto his.

"I know that, dobe. And I know you don't go back on your word, do you? You can't just leave Sakura because you made wedding vows to her. But what about me Naruto?" Sasuke asked, bringing his face closer to Naruto's. He turned his head slightly, his lips close to Naruto's lips. Sasuke almost smirked as he thought he could hear Naruto's heartbeat quicken at their proximately. "What about _you_ Naruto?" Sasuke asked, pulling his lips away from Naruto's, and flashing his eyes to look at Naruto's eyes. Naruto straightened at the remark, his eyes widening. "What about what you want Naruto? Don't you want me Naruto?"

Sasuke was pleased to see that Naruto knew exactly what Sasuke was talking about, knowing that as emotionless as Naruto had tried to be the last time, it was that emotionless act that had tipped Sasuke off about how much Naruto really had felt. Naruto had had to shutdown because he was feeling too much, and Sasuke knew him well enough to know that was a sign of Naruto's own insecurities. A part of him knew that Naruto was strongly bonded to him, and Sasuke grasped onto that idea, that idea that had always made him hope desperately that Naruto loved him back.

Sasuke had stood naked in his bedroom long after Naruto had left, looking at the ceiling of his bedroom, wanting to just disappear. He had originally heard some noises in another part of his house, but he had been too numb to think about it. Later, he realized that Naruto had finally snapped due to the destruction Naruto had caused in his house. Knowing that something warred inside of Naruto enough to make Naruto punch several holes in his walls was like saying that Naruto had realized he himself had screwed up. It had given him hope to see that Naruto had been trying to hide his emotions.

Naruto returning to his house as he said he would had made Sasuke realize he couldn't hide anymore. He had to face his fears. And he had to make sure he got what he wanted.

"I don't know why I feel so strongly towards you Naruto. I don't know why I can't seem to do the right thing when I'm around you. I know you're mad that I didn't tell you earlier, and I know you're mad that Sakura left, but you don't really hate me, do you?" Sasuke asked quietly. Naruto shook his head.

"You bastard. You know I don't hate you," Naruto said as he clenched his fists. "I just didn't understand why you didn't say something to me sooner. Even though I kind of get it now, it still hurts," Naruto said, holding a hand to his heart, indicating the pain it caused him.

"You understand why I didn't tell you?" Sasuke asked, surprised that Naruto had said that. Naruto nodded.

"Maybe better than you do," Naruto said.

Sasuke looked at Naruto avidly. Here they were, standing in his bedroom with Naruto half undressed before him, having a very bizarre discussion. He felt his heart beating fast, feeling somehow relieved. Naruto didn't hate him. Naruto was talking to him.

In all honestly, it was a lot more than he had hoped would happen after he had been caught ruthlessly fucking Naruto's body.

"Your body isn't reacting well to the excess of yin chakra in your body. This is probably going to sound gross, but you have to consume my sweat in order to make the negative symptoms go away." Naruto began to explain to Sasuke what Tsunade had told him about Sasuke's imbalance of yin chakra, and explaining the symptoms that Sasuke suffered from. "...And the only thing I can think of to make it easier is if you were to maybe lick the sweat off my body or something. I know that's rather gross, but it's the only think I can think of," Naruto said.

"Lick the sweat off your body?" Sasuke repeated. He was pretty sure he had managed to kill himself, and somehow managed to end up in heaven.

"I know, gross, but-"

"Naruto, do you realize what you're saying?" Sasuke asked. Naruto merely looked at him, and Sasuke continued. "Are you consenting to this? Allowing me to lick your body?" Sasuke asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, I guess it means I'm consenting," Naruto said. Sasuke felt his breath catch, looking at the way that Naruto's eyes focused on his. "You looked surprised," Naruto noted.

"I am," Sasuke confessed.

Naruto closed his eyes, allowing himself to revel in the memories of pleasure he had felt the last time that he had come to Sasuke. Then a shudder ran though his body as remembered the time before that when he had awoken during the midst of the genjutsu with Sasuke inside of his body.

Naruto still remembered the feel of Sasuke's body coming at him from behind, the way Sasuke's stomach clenched and unclenched as he thrust forward into Naruto, while gripping his wrists, using his arms to help pull himself tighter inside of his body.

Naruto could picture perfectly the way that Sasuke's naked body glistened in sweat, his eyes closed, his mouth moving and his chest heaving as he panted in time with how he thrust inside of his body. Sasuke had looked so utterly lost and beautiful it had been hard to look at his friend due to how it had made his heart both ache and explode with emotion when Sasuke had believed he was controlling Naruto's body. Naruto's cock grew hard as he remembered the intimacy he had shared with Sasuke.

"You're accepting this surprisingly well. What happened between this week and last?" Sasuke asked, very aware and thoroughly aroused by Naruto's sudden arousal.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, and Sasuke nearly moaned at the way that Naruto said his name, remembering the way that Naruto had cried out his name the day that he had accidentally deactivated his sharingan – though now that Naruto had explained his symptoms, he realized that it was probably due to not having gotten his "fill" of Naruto's yang chakra to balance him out. He was brought back to the present as he tried to listen to what Naruto was saying after Naruto had said his name so seductively. "It's kind of funny, if you think about it. I spent three years of my life chasing after you, only to have you return to chase after me for another three years. On my mission, I spent a lot of time thinking about you, thinking about us, and especially thinking about something that Tsunade said to me."

"What did she say to you?"

"She said that she hoped you loved me a fraction of how much I love you. I thought it was stupid of her to say I loved you. I thought it was stupid of her to say that you loved me," Naruto said, almost bitterly. "But when I got to thinking about it, really thinking about it..." Naruto trailed off, and then gave a half laugh. "I guess you've always been right, calling me a dumb ass..."

"Naruto?" Sasuke murmured, wondering if Naruto had really just implied what he had desperately hoped he would imply.

"You've really enjoyed fucking me, haven't you?" Naruto asked huskily. Sasuke's eyes darkened.

"You've no idea."

"I'm still furious at you. Still pissed off at you, but...I don't think it's fair if you're the only one who gets to enjoy this."

"And what is 'this?'"

"I haven't figured it out yet," Naruto murmured. Sasuke's eyes went wide when Naruto continued to strip, Sasuke's eyes trailing over every inch of exposed skin, knowing every inch in great deal detail, but relishing in the new experience of having Naruto expose his own body for him _willingly_.

Naruto stepped out of his clothes, his body turned to face Sasuke full on, his erection bobbing, and the slit of his cock wet slightly with precum. Sasuke's body seemed to move on his own accord as he slipped off his clothes, letting them fall to a pile on the floor.

Sasuke looked at Naruto as Naruto raked his eyes over his body. Neither of them moved for a moment, but Sasuke couldn't wait long. He decided to close the gap between them, and reached a hand out to touch Naruto, but Naruto moved away from him.

"Stay there for now. I still haven't decided if I want to punch you or start groping you," Naruto said almost playfully.

"And I still haven't decided what you're up to. You come in here acting like you hate me, then you tell me to lick the sweat off your body because it will help me. That idea seemed to turn you on more than it did me, and now you won't let me touch you," Sasuke said, shaking his head.

"I told you, I haven't figured things out yet," Naruto nearly growled.

"Well then let me give you a little push to help you along," Sasuke murmured huskily. Naruto didn't have time to react as Sasuke shoved Naruto's shoulder, making him collapse on the bed with Sasuke landing on top of him. Naruto's face contorted in anger as he brought his knee up, hitting Sasuke's outer thigh to try and dislodge Sasuke from on top of him. Sasuke grunted as he grabbed Naruto's wrists and pulled them over his head as Naruto bucked his hips up against Sasuke's. The jolt of pleasure of feeling Naruto's cock against his own made him lose his grasp on Naruto's right wrist. After freeing his hand, Naruto sent a punch to Sasuke's face, though Sasuke blocked it with his left hand. Naruto bucked his hips against Sasuke's again, successfully dislodging Sasuke from on top of him. Sasuke rolled to the side, his right hand grasping Naruto's wrist, his left hand clasping Naruto's balled up fist. Sasuke used his grip on Naruto to pull his friend on top of him, the skin of their naked bodies slapping against each other as they switched positions.

Naruto got the upper hand as he straddled Sasuke's waist, using the lower part of his legs to pin down Sasuke's upper legs.

"Bastard!" Naruto hissed, as he slapped away Sasuke's left hand, and twisted his wrist out of Sasuke's right. Naruto's hands darted out to grasp around Sasuke's throat.

Sasuke's freed hands darted out and grasped Naruto's waist. Both tightened their grips, Naruto snarling, Sasuke smirking despite the constricting feel at his throat. In one fluid moment, blue eyes widened as Naruto realized Sasuke's intent as Sasuke bucked his hips and thighs upward, dislodging Naruto slightly. Sasuke slid his hands from Naruto's waist, to Naruto's ass cheeks, spreading them wide before he thrust his hips upward, his cock twitching as Sasuke forced himself inside of Naruto.

"Ah!" Naruto cried out in pain at the intrusion of Sasuke's dick entering his ass, the grip on Sasuke's throat tightening. Sasuke grunted at the feel of forcing himself inside of Naruto from his current position, but didn't stop him from moving his hips up while using the grip on Naruto's ass to pull Naruto back down on top of him.

"Nn," Sasuke managed a choked moan through Naruto's grip on his neck, his eyes triumphant as he smirked at Naruto whose eyes began to slowly glaze over in lust. Sasuke grunted in pleasured pain as Naruto's body tightened around his cock, trying to force him back out, but Sasuke wasn't releasing his grip on Naruto's body. Sasuke knew he was thrusting in roughly, thrusting in dry to Naruto's body. Yet he knew Naruto liked it, even better than Naruto knew his own body.

"Ah...ah..." Naruto gasped out, half in ripping pain, and half in forced pleasure. Naruto moved his hands from Sasuke's neck to Sasuke's wrists to pull them off of his ass, but Sasuke just grabbed Naruto's upper arms before Naruto got the chance. Sasuke used the force of Naruto's pull on his wrists to pull his entire body closer to Naruto, still thrusting.

Naruto began to pant heavily, his eyes closing in pleasure as loosened his grip on Sasuke's arms. He fell on top of Sasuke, propping himself up on his forearms on Sasuke's chest. Sasuke grunted at the pain of Naruto's elbows digging into him, but the thought was dismissed with the pleasure of the next thrust inside of Naruto's body.

"Bastard," Naruto panted close to Sasuke's ear.

"You like it," Sasuke taunted back.

"See if I...heh...let you have a lick off...heh...me," Naruto hissed through his panting.

"You like – nnn – like it," Sasuke moaned, closing his eyes in pleasure as he felt Naruto's body tightening around his cock, feeling the pressuring and the weight of Naruto riding on top of him as he felt himself coming closer to his climax, "and – nnn – that's all I need – nnn – to live."

Naruto grunted a response, and pushed himself upward so that he was sitting straighter atop of Sasuke. He gripped the side of Sasuke's ass and thrust downward on top of Sasuke.

"This fucking hurts...in a good way," Naruto confessed, his body beginning to perspire heavily as his hair became plastered to the side of his face. Sasuke groaned in pleasure as he watched Naruto finally taking control of some of his own pleasure.

"Naruto," Sasuke moaned as he thrust inside of Naruto. Sasuke once again moved his hands to wrap around Naruto's cock, pushing and pulling in rhythm with their thrusts.

Sasuke was in pure bliss, his mind in a euphoric state as he finally had Naruto responding to him, as he finally had Naruto wanting him back, as he finally knew that he could make Naruto feel so blissful. He opened his eyes, seeing Naruto look down at him, his gaze clouded in lust and pleasure.

"I love you," Sasuke mouthed wordlessly to Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened as his body went rigid, crying out a pleasured scream as he came into Sasuke's hands and across Sasuke's chest. The pleasure Sasuke felt increased as he watched Naruto come. Sasuke's release came moments later as he cried out Naruto's name, orgasming into Naruto's tightened body, his body spasming in his pleasured release.

Naruto moved his body off of Sasuke's and rolled to the side of Sasuke's large bed exhausted. Naruto took deep breaths as he closed his eyes. Sasuke looked over at Naruto, unable to keep the hint of tenderness out of his usually stoic gaze. He moved his body closer to Naruto's, and ran a finger down Naruto's arm, and then popped it into his mouth and sucked.

"Are you sure I can't lick your body?" Sasuke murmured huskily. Naruto opened his eyes lazily to look at Sasuke. Sasuke only smirked before he leaned down and licked and sucked at the base of Naruto's neck. Naruto closed his eyes contented.

"Whatever. Just don't suck too loud. I'm still trying to figure this out," Naruto said.

"Take your time, dobe," Sasuke said.

"Bastard," Naruto hissed out with no real conviction of meaning it in his voice.

"Only if I'm your bastard," Sasuke murmured against Naruto's skin. When Naruto didn't respond, Sasuke lifted his head to see that Naruto had fallen asleep almost immediately. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, realizing that considering how quickly that Naruto had conked out that he probably had just gotten home from his mission and had come right to him. Sasuke felt almost as pleased to know that Naruto had come right to him after his mission as his body had felt just moments before. It was clear that Naruto hadn't slept much during the time either. Sasuke smirked to himself.

He felt that he didn't really _need_ to lick Naruto's body, but he decided if Naruto wasn't going to stop him, then he might as well get his fill. Then he would make sure that Naruto got some well deserved rest so he'd be able to figure things out when he awoke – hopefully figuring things out that would lean in Sasuke's favor.

* * *

This story isn't over yet, but I felt the need to thank all the readers who have reviewed and encouraged this story. I know I'm not the best at responding to reviews, but I have each and every review saved on my computer to look at for inspiration. :-)

Please let me know what you think, ne? - Jelp


	11. Chapter 11: Descent to Madness

Yes, I know it's been months since I've updated. On the bright side, I already have most of the next chapter written up.

If you haven't already noticed, I posted another fic called "The Agreement." I started writing that fic _over a year_ ago. Since it's pre-written, I will update it every Saturday. "Mine" was originally supposed to be a sort of oneshot spin off of an idea that is in that story. If you like "Mine" then you'll like "The Agreement."

Enjoy this chapter!

**Mine**

**Chapter 11: Descent to Madness**

Upon waking, Naruto didn't open his eyes immediately. His other senses went to work to remind him of what had occurred before he had fallen asleep. Naruto's body felt sated (the pain he had felt when Sasuke had pushed into him a mere memory due to his healing abilities). The smell of sex lingered faintly around him, and Sasuke's distinct smell made Naruto realize he was still at Sasuke's, in Sasuke's bed, after they had...

What had they done?

Worked together on Sasuke's save Naruto's life mission? Somehow Naruto was sure that wasn't quite it.

Had sex? Well, that was obvious, yes, but how to label it...

Fucked? Mated? (Naruto ruled this out as he was fairly certain neither he nor Sasuke could carry children.) Made love...?

Sasuke said he loved him, and Naruto believed him. And Naruto loved Sasuke back – but he was sure he couldn't tell Sasuke that. If he did, it would ruin things between him and Sakura.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked over to where Sasuke lay on his side with his face towards Naruto, his eyes closed and his breathing even. A part of Naruto wondered if Sasuke was faking sleep, but he had had enough experience with waking Sasuke up to know that if Sasuke wasn't faking it, Naruto didn't want to be the one to wake Sasuke up. Sasuke was always so grouchy when he got woken up.

Naruto exhaled a breath and put a hand to his forehead. What the hell had he been thinking? What was he _doing_? Sitting up in bed, Naruto pulled his knees close to his chest and propped his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his crossed arms.

Everything was so messed up. He was married to Sakura, but he had to let Sasuke ejaculate into his ass in order to live. Naruto shook his head. Right there just seemed off. There had to be another way for his yin or yang chakra – he couldn't remember which chakra didn't work right and didn't really care – to get balanced out. Naruto looked over his shoulder where Sasuke still lay sleeping, wondering just how intertwined the two of them were if they were supposedly the only ones able to balance each other's chakras out. It seemed a bit far-fetched though. There had to be another way to get their chakras to work okay.

The question was, did he want another way for his chakra to get balanced out? What was going to happen when Sakura came back, and Naruto had to go back to his wife? He wouldn't be able to use his chakra imbalance as an excuse if he got balanced out.

Naruto blanched. The way his thought had come out made it sound like he didn't want to be with Sakura. He loved Sakura. He had loved her for years.

Yet Sasuke...

Naruto put a hand to his forehead, thinking. It seemed a little too convenient that his chakra could only be balanced by Sasuke, and according to Tsunade, only he could balance out Sasuke's chakra. But he supposed if Tsunade said it was so, the old hag knew what she was doing, right? Even so, it still didn't make sense to _him_. Naruto's mind was a whirl filled with things that he just didn't understand.

Naruto sat up in bed, pulling his legs up further so he could prop his arms on his knees. He ran his hands through his hair and let out a deep, frustrated sigh. Naruto fiddled with the sheet that had been overtop of him, and he knew that Sasuke had to have been the one to pull the covers over top of his naked body. Turning his head slightly, Naruto looked over at Sasuke.

It had been so long since Naruto had chased after Sasuke, forcing him to come back to Konoha. The memories of what it was like when Naruto had thought he'd lost Sasuke to Orochimaru, or lost Sasuke to death came back haunting him. His chest swelled with a fear that he had thought had long since gone away. Sasuke had stayed in the village for so long that the idea of Sasuke leaving seemed like a childhood nightmare, long since passed.

Yet what assurance did Naruto have that Sasuke would stay if he "rejected" him when Sakura got back? Naruto liked to think that Sasuke would stay to "keep him alive," but Naruto knew his friend well enough to know that Sasuke was completely and utterly unpredictable. Naruto looked over at Sasuke again, studying his sleeping face. He wondered what Sasuke would do if their positions were switched.

"Sasuke?" Naruto murmured. When the other man didn't respond, Naruto went back to his thoughts.

A fine mess he'd gotten himself into without even trying: the story of his life.

There was no way that Naruto could deny that he felt so much more when he was with Sasuke than with Sakura. There was no way that he could deny that between the two, he'd always been more obsessed with Sasuke, whether he had admitted it to himself or not.

Naruto wondered if Sakura had been the one to leave for Sound all those years ago, if she had told him not to come after him if he would have chased after her as he had done Sasuke.

That answer came immediately. Hadn't Sakura just left a week ago, and hadn't he tried as hard as he could to get her to stay, even looking for her once she left? Of course he would have chased after her with everything he had to get her back! Yet...

That wasn't really true. He could have done more, but he hadn't.

Naruto sighed, frustrated. He blamed Sasuke for his current dilemma. If only the bastard had stuffed his Uchiha pride away in order to confess his feelings then maybe things would have been different.

A soft touch to his back made Naruto stiffen.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked sleepily as he began to trail his fingers up and down Naruto's back, sitting up as he did so in order to get better access to Naruto's back. Sasuke placed his other hand on Naruto's back, running his fingers up towards Naruto's shoulders where he gripped firmly and began to massage Naruto.

Naruto was rather surprised at Sasuke's blatant show of intimacy as Sasuke took his time rubbing out the knots in Naruto's shoulders, neck, and back. Not wanting Sasuke to stop rubbing out the kinks in his back, Naruto remained silent, afraid that his answer would make Sasuke stop touching him.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke repeated when Naruto didn't answer him.

"I'm cheating on Sakura by having an affair with you," Naruto said quietly. Sasuke stilled his hands for a moment before rubbing a little harder.

"Then break up with her and be with me," Sasuke said. Naruto's shoulders stiffened, and Sasuke's hands darted from where they were on Naruto's lower back to Naruto's shoulders to try and relieve the sudden tension, but Naruto jerked his upper body out of Sasuke's reach, suddenly standing up away from Sasuke, the sheet sliding down his naked body.

"I made wedding vows Sasuke. I can't just break them!" Naruto growled.

"Haven't you already?" Sasuke asked.

Sasuke didn't even flinch when Naruto's fist slammed into the side of his chin. It hadn't been overly hard, but he could tell it was still going to leave a sizable bruise.

"Because of you!" Naruto spat out angrily. He began to pace back and forth in front of Sasuke's bed, running his hands through his hair. "Why didn't you just tell me?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke narrowed his eyes angrily.

"I told you already why! I've also admitted I made a mistake. I can't change the past," Sasuke growled angrily. For a few hours he had foolishly clung to the idea that Naruto's willingness to come to him was a sure sign that he was going to get Naruto all for himself. He clearly still had his work cut out for him.

Sasuke got off the bed too and slowly began to get dressed. He didn't look at Naruto, feeling stung at Naruto's sudden rejection.

"What do you know about light and dark chakra manipulation?" Sasuke asked suddenly as he pulled his pants overtop of his boxers.

"Err...what?" Naruto asked, caught off guard at Sasuke's sudden change in topic pausing mid motion as he got dressed too.

"What do you know about light and dark chakra manipulation? What do you know about yin and yang?" Sasuke said.

"They balance each other out?" Naruto said, his demeanor changing as he was still unable to follow Sasuke's mental train of thought.

"I know Kakashi must have explained _something_ to you, but knowing you, you just forget, dobe. No matter. The point is, to be the best shinobi you can be, you need both. You need yin and yang chakra in order to perform light and dark chakra manipulation. You will need both types of chakra to become Hokage. In other words, you need _me_ to fulfill your life long dream of becoming Hokage," Sasuke said, almost desperately.

"Listen Sasuke. I know I don't get a lot of that chakra theory stuff, but even without that I already knew that I needed you, with or without chakra. It's just...Sakura..." Naruto said, not looking at Sasuke as he pulled his shirt over his head.

Sasuke felt a horrible twinge of guilt when he felt himself wishing that Sakura would never return to Konoha. It would break Naruto's heart if she never returned, and Sasuke was wishing for it. Sasuke swallowed.

"Until Sakura comes back, can we just pretend that-" she doesn't exist, Sasuke wanted to say, "that you're not really cheating on her? She wants you to stay alive so that means you have to stay with me. You have to be intimate with me. Even when she returns, things will have to change to accommodate that," Sasuke argued.

"You mean pretend like we're a c-couple?" Naruto asked hesitantly. Sasuke looked over at Naruto out of the corner of his eye, daring to hope. Naruto's next words shattered that hope. "I couldn't do that. I think we should just act like friends since that's all we are."

"Just friends?" Sasuke asked incredulously, his hopes shattering further. It hurt to think how much control Naruto had when it came to his happiness.

"Friends with benefits...?" Naruto added on. Sasuke looked down at the floor, feeling furious. He felt he was getting slighted and pushed aside next to Sakura who wasn't even _there_, but he couldn't push Naruto: not any more. He had ruined his chances by waiting too long. If he pushed further, he could ruin his chances with Naruto permanently. He would accept the consequences – for now. He would make sure to change Naruto's mind. He had time, and he would plan accordingly.

"I love you," Sasuke said. Naruto whipped his head around to look at Sasuke. Sasuke locked his eyes with Naruto. Naruto hadn't said he loved him, but he didn't have to. Sasuke knew that Naruto loved him. If only Sasuke had known that before! But even knowing that Naruto loved him wouldn't push Naruto to break his way of the ninja. "I will take what I can get," Sasuke murmured. Naruto looked rather surprised at this confession, as though he expected Sasuke to protest to just being friends with benefits. If only Naruto knew what he had planned. He hoped that Naruto would be able to forgive him one day.

"I should – I should get going. I need to report to Tsunade-sama. I came right here after my mission," Naruto explained. Sasuke merely nodded. Naruto gave a slight wave as he walked out of Sasuke's bedroom.

"You're mine, and only _mine_," Sasuke said darkly. "No one will take you from me."

* * *

Weeks went by without any sign that Sakura would return. Sasuke got more and more anxious as time went on. He felt jittery that Sakura would return at any point and time, and that all of a sudden, Naruto would stop coming to him.

And Naruto did come to him!

At first, he and Naruto had fallen back into their old routine of how they had been before Sakura and Naruto had even gotten married. Naruto spent a lot of time over at Sasuke's house, training, sparring, and even studying. Sasuke found himself becoming Naruto's tutor in order to prepare for when Naruto became Hokage. Studying laws were not the most interesting thing to learn, and Sasuke did not enjoy all the political mumbo jumbo, but he found amazing benefits from helping Naruto study, especially when it came to studying new jutsus.

For example, Naruto's own distaste in mundane politics ended with Naruto being so frustrated with what he worked on that Sasuke was more than happy to provide a suitable distraction.

The first time that Naruto began to get too distracted from what they were studying, Sasuke had found himself becoming entranced and distracted by Naruto's movements. Naruto had glanced off away from the text he was supposed to be reading, his body fidgeting in his restlessness and lack of interest.

It had been such a turn on to see Naruto's body moving so sensually unknowingly as his body rocked back and forth quickly, his hands fidgeting with his pants. Sasuke hadn't been able to help himself as he had come behind Naruto and began to kiss and nibble on the back of Naruto's neck, trying to absorb some of Naruto's massive energy.

Naruto hadn't rejected his advances either.

Needless to say they hadn't gotten much studying done the rest of the day.

Sasuke found that when Naruto got too distracted from their work Sasuke was able to get Naruto to focus on _him_ very easily. Naruto never instigated any sex, but he never turned it down either. Sasuke figured it was Naruto's own psychological way that if Sasuke was the one to initiate sex then it wasn't as bad for him to just "accept" Sasuke's advances since he "had to" in order to stay alive.

Naruto's acceptance, Naruto's complete and utter enjoyment of their time together, made Sasuke hope and pray that Naruto had forgotten about Sakura. Naruto didn't talk about her much, and Sasuke knew he was doing a good job of keeping him distracted from what was going on with her and what she was doing.

Sasuke took the opportunity of Sakura's absence – not really to woo Naruto – but to exploit all the benefits he could by showing Naruto what a great life he would have if he stayed with Sasuke. Sasuke made sure to show Naruto that they were best for each other when it came to sparring; Sasuke was best for Naruto when it came time for Naruto to be tutored; and of course, Sasuke was the best for Naruto when it came to pleasuring his body.

It got to the point that he and Naruto were having sex at least once a day, sometimes two to three times. Sasuke found that the more he had sex with Naruto, the more that Naruto focused on what he was supposed to be learning. Naruto said it was because of the fact that Sasuke was helping him focus by balancing his chakra. Sasuke claimed it was because he was the only one capable of wearing down some of Naruto's massive energy reserves that made him distracted.

Sasuke also found the more that he had sex with Naruto, the more he became obsessed with his best friend. It was like he was never going to ever be able to get enough of Naruto. Sasuke even convinced Naruto to move in with him until Sakura returned. It scared Sasuke to think what would happen when Sakura returned to "claim" Naruto back.

There was no way she would let Naruto come to him every day, and there was no way that even if Naruto wanted to, that he would disobey Sakura's request. Without Naruto every day, without having Naruto close by him every day scared Sasuke more than he would ever admit to anyone. He enjoyed having Naruto living with him so he wouldn't be alone. The idea of having someone else living with him in his old home gave Sasuke more comfort than anything else had before in his life.

The idea of Sakura's return to Konoha was slowly driving Sasuke mad.

When nearly a year had passed and Sakura had yet to return, Sasuke knew it was only a matter of time before the lifestyle he had come to enjoy with Naruto would crumble around him. He feared it, but he would be damned if he wasn't going to do everything in his power to prevent that...

* * *

"I have received word that Sakura should be coming back within the next few days," Tsunade said to Shizune rather nonchalantly as she flipped through her paperwork. Shizune looked somewhat surprised at the news.

"What will happen when Sakura comes back and realizes that there was no need for her to run away in the first place?" Shizune asked. "Pretending that her supposed assassination attempt on your life was more serious than it really was will have its consequences," Shizune said rather disapprovingly.

Tsunade looked up from her paper work. She propped her chin in her hand and took off her reading glasses, swinging them around carelessly.

"Perhaps, but I think she will see it was necessary. Naruto and Sasuke needed time to adjust to each other before she returned. Due to Uchiha's stupidity and lack of effort to communicate properly with Naruto, he made things much harder than he should have. Naruto might have resisted Sasuke if she had not left, and that would have resulted in Naruto's death. Sakura would not want that. Besides, it's obvious that if Sasuke had just had the balls to fess up to Naruto earlier, Naruto would have ended up with Sasuke rather than choosing Sakura. Have you seen the two of them recently? It's clear Naruto's in love with Sasuke. It's rather unfortunate that Naruto's not one to go against his word, which means he can't break his wedding vows and stay with Sasuke."

"How is that unfortunate? Isn't that rather honorable?" Shizune asked, rather miffed. Tsunade tsked.

"Honorable perhaps, but it will leave him _miserable_. Besides, if you think about it, Naruto made some promises to rescue Sasuke before he made any kind of promise to be with Sakura the rest of their lives. Hopefully this time without Sakura has given Naruto ample time to see that particular point of view."

Shizune scratched her head and laughed nervously. "No offense to Naruto, but he seems like he may have trouble putting two and two together like that." Tsunade shrugged her shoulders.

"I've done what I can to ensure that Naruto is alive and happy. What more could anyone ask me to do for him?" Tsunade asked.

"It wasn't your place to even go that far for him," Shizune pointed out. Tsunade put the tip of her glasses in her mouth and chewed on the end thoughtfully.

"Perhaps," she consented.

"It's because he reminds you of all the people that you lost. The death of your brother, Uncle Dan, Jir-"

"Enough! You don't need to rub salt in my many wounds," Tsunade snarled. "Perhaps I do care about the brat more than I should, but as both Sakura and Sasuke know, it's hard not caring for him."

"I apologize," Shizune murmured.

"Find out where Naruto is and let him know that Sakura will be back in a few days," Tsunade said, a trace of anger still evident in her voice.

"Yes ma'am."

After Shizune left, Tsunade leaned back in her chair wondering how things would go with Sakura's pending return.

* * *

Sakura took a deep breath, feeling like a thief as she entered her own home. She hadn't been back in what felt like ages. Being away from Konoha had been a lot more difficult than she thought it would be, but it didn't matter. She wouldn't think about what being gone for a year had been like. All that mattered was that she was back, and that she was going to see her precious husband, her Naruto again.

It was odd being back. Her house felt somewhat unlived in, as though Naruto was hardly there. Sakura almost smirked to herself. Why would he be there? He was a shinobi, and he often had to go elsewhere in order to perform his ninja duties. Hadn't it been she, not Naruto, that had been the one that was always taking care of the house? She was the one that had worked at the hospital, the one that had rarely ever left to go on away missions.

A sudden image of two bodies pressed intimately together, one her husband, and the other his best friend sprang to her mind, but she pushed the image aside. The last time that she had been away on a long mission she had found out the dire situation her husband had been in. She knew he would never be unfaithful to her, and to see him being subjected to mind control under the pretense of saving his life made her angry.

Sakura shook her head to rid her mind of such thoughts.

Naruto was hers, and nothing, and no one could change that.

Especially now.

Sakura smiled to herself, looking at the folder in her hand, and then gently tapped the contents in her pouch attached to her hip. While being on the run had been horrible, it had had its benefits. She had not spent her time idly. She had made the most of it, and she was going to utilize her findings immediately.

There was a certain smugness about her as she walked through her home, holding the folder and once again caressing the pouch at her side.

She had found a cure for Naruto's bizarre problem with his chakra unbalance – a cure that would make it so that he would never have to rely on Sasuke's chakra again. It was a wonder that she had figured it out, and it was a wonder that Tsunade-shishou had not found it sooner, but no matter. She had it, and that was the point.

Sakura knew from the unlived in feeling of her home that Naruto wasn't there, and hadn't been there for some time. It was rather disconcerting, but the feeling of another presence assaulted her as she got further into her home. The chakra had been masked and she hadn't detected it right away. When she did recognized the person immediately, though she was rather surprised at the unexpected visitor to her home.

"Why are you here when it's clear that Naruto's not here?" Sakura asked suspiciously, frowning distastefully at the person who had turned hers and her husband's lives upside down.

"To welcome you home of course," Sasuke's voice rang out coldly. "As far as I know, Naruto has no idea you're even back in Konoha which is all the better. He probably doesn't even know you're anywhere close to returning! I got here at just the right time. You must know that Naruto doesn't need you any more. In fact, I'm here to make sure that he'll never be yours again."

Sakura felt a chill go through her body as realization dawned on her. Her eyes opened in horrified surprise.

"You're-"

Sakura didn't get a chance to say anything more as a sudden blow to the back of her head made her fall forward, blood gushing from the wound to her head. She lost consciousness instantly as darkness engulfed her immediately.

And Sakura knew no more.

**Next Chapter: Beyond Betrayal**

* * *

I'm curious as to how people view this story versus my new fic The Agreement. Review and let me know what you think, and if you get a chance, I'd love to see how people react to The Agreement. - Jelp


	12. Chapter 12: Beyond Betrayal

For those of you who are so inclined, I now have a oneshot posted called "All For One And One For All" posted on my profile. It's a Sasuke/Naruto/Sakura threesome.

**Mine**

**Chapter 12: Beyond Betrayal**

Naruto sat at Ichiraku ramen, smiling widely as he shoveled delicious ramen into his mouth.

"Naruto!" Naruto turned around in his seat, slurping up his noodles. He smiled widely as he noted that Shizune had been the one to call his name.

"Hello-"

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" Shizune said, sounding slightly out of breath. Naruto's eyes widened slightly, noting Shizune's obvious hurried attempts to find him. His stomach did an unpleasant flip-flop in anxious anticipation.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, his face growing suddenly serious. Shizune looked at him and took a deep breath before smiling widely.

"Sakura will be home soon!" Shizune announced happily. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as his face split into a huge grin.

"That's great! When will she get home?!" Naruto asked excitedly. Sakura was coming home!

"Tsunade said that she should be coming home in the next couple of days," Shizune said, still smiling winningly at him. "All charges have been cleared too. There won't be a problem when she comes back."

Naruto couldn't believe it! What great news! He couldn't wait to tell Sasuke-

Shit. _Sasuke_.

Naruto's smile slipped, but he plastered it back on before Shizune had time to notice.

"I have a lot of things to do to make sure she has a great return home," Naruto said, his voice filled with a fake cheeriness that didn't quite match his genuine happy tone from earlier. "I better get started!" Naruto said, before starting to rush off.

"OI! NARUTO!"

Naruto turned back around seeing that it wasn't Shizune that had been calling for his attention this time, but rather Teuchi, the ramen storeowner.

"You gotta pay for your food, you know?!" Teuchi yelled angrily. Naruto laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head rather sheepishly.

"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto apologized before running back to the stand, quickly throwing cash onto the counter and then hurrying off.

* * *

Naruto's mind was a whirl as he rushed back to his and Sakura's home. He hadn't been there in ages because he had moved in with Sasuke. Returning back home shouldn't have made his stomach twist in anxiety like it did.

Sakura's return home was not filling him with the joy it should have been. Instead, a deep sense of guilt settled inside of him. He loved Sakura, just not in the same way or to the same degree he loved Sasuke.

What was he going to do when Sakura came home? How would he explain to her that he had practically moved in with Sasuke, and they had been having sex for pleasure? Naruto closed his eyes, furious at himself. He should never have accepted Sasuke's advances. It had become more than just about saving his life long ago, and the idea that he had been going to Sasuke for pleasure filled him with self-loathing.

And what was he going to tell Sasuke when Sakura expected – as she should – that he stop seeing Sasuke as much? As her husband, he needed to respect her wishes. After all, nothing had been her fault. Heck, he hadn't even known about it himself! Sasuke had been the one keeping secrets from everyone.

It seemed like so long ago that he had been truly mad at Sasuke for not telling him what was going on. There would always be that faint annoyance that Sasuke hadn't acted sooner. Now...now things were different.

What was he going to do when he saw Sakura?

Hell, what was he going to do when he saw Sasuke next? Naruto closed his eyes, feeling even guiltier as a small part of him wished Sakura wouldn't return home.

* * *

Naruto paced the length of his and Sasuke's – no, he couldn't think like that anymore – of just Sasuke's living room, waiting for Sasuke to return. Naruto had returned from his own house, which had seemed unwelcoming upon entering. Something about his home had felt off, and he felt guilty immediately. His home had felt off because he didn't consider it his home any more. Sasuke's place felt more like home than when he had lived with Sakura. So much guilt was building up within him that he wasn't sure how much he could take.

He wished Sasuke would get home, so they could start discussing what would happen when Sakura returned. When Sasuke finally entered through his front door, Naruto had half a mind to hit the bastard except Sasuke wouldn't have had any idea why Naruto was so frustrated.

"Where've you been?" Naruto asked Sasuke as Sasuke returned home. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked a second later, noticing the blood on Sasuke's arm, pointing to it. Sasuke looked at his arm, his eyes widening a fraction before going back to normal.

"I was on a mission. I thought I had cleaned myself up pretty good afterwards."

"Mission?" Naruto asked, surprised. "Without me?" Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly.

"Tsunade gave me a mission this morning. It was just a C rank. It only required one shinobi," Sasuke said. Naruto narrowed his eyes, wondering why Tsunade hadn't sent him on the mission, and then figured she had probably figured he would want to get ready for when Sakura was returning. Naruto cleared his throat, figuring that he might as well get it over and done with.

"Sakura will be returning home soon," Naruto said. Sasuke's entire body went rigid, and he turned slightly away from Naruto.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke murmured after a while. Naruto nodded before he realized that Sasuke wasn't looking at him.

"Yes. Tsunade told me she'd heard word from Sakura. Well, actually, Shizune told me that Tsunade had got word from Sakura," Naruto explained. Naruto took a step toward Sasuke, hesitant. He could see the hurt in Sasuke's demeanor, and he knew it was his fault. He had led Sasuke on.

During the past year since Sakura had left, Naruto had never turned down Sasuke's advances. He had never denied Sasuke anything.

Naruto hadn't wanted to. He had found himself falling harder and harder for Sasuke, knowing he was cheating on Sakura, knowing what he had been doing was wrong. It hadn't felt so bad when he tried to justify the fact that he was trying to stay alive as he had promised Sakura. He had justified things saying he would be the most faithful husband when Sakura returned.

Now...

Now, Naruto didn't know what to do. He had tried denying that he had felt anything for Sasuke for so long, or what he had felt, he had suppressed. The thought of having to leave Sasuke was suffocating him. Naruto closed his eyes, and shook his head. He was being stupid! He wasn't losing Sasuke, not really.

Yet why did it feel as though he would lose him once Sakura returned?

"When...when Sakura comes back-"

"Don't," Sasuke said. Naruto's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Don't. Just _don't_. I can't listen to this right now. When she comes back, then we'll talk."

"Sasuke-" Naruto was cut off as Sasuke suddenly grabbed a fistful of Naruto's shirt and pushed him roughly against a wall.

"The past year has been the best year of my life," Sasuke said, letting go of Naruto's shirt. "Just let me pretend as long as I can that I still have you all to myself."

Naruto opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out. It wouldn't have mattered if he had said anything. Sasuke had moved so quickly to get away from Naruto, clearly not wanting to hear anything. Naruto slid down against the wall, shaking his head, knowing that he wanted to pretend for a little while longer too.

* * *

Frustrating.

The past week had been _beyond_ frustrating.

Naruto felt on the jittery perch of madness due to the amount of frustration he felt. Sakura was supposed to have returned over a week ago, yet there was still no sign of her. Waiting for her return was driving him crazy.

The past week Naruto had been on edge. While he had seen Sasuke frequently – as they still had sex every day, it was like neither of them were really there. Naruto knew that both he and Sasuke had pretended that Naruto wasn't slowly moving his things out of Sasuke's place, back into his own home. Both of them pretended that there was nothing separating them.

But Naruto felt it. There was a strange desperation in the way that Sasuke made love to him, and Naruto could feel that there was something horribly wrong with Sasuke, as though he carried a heavy weight upon his shoulders. Naruto figured it had to do with Sasuke's fear of Sakura's return.

Sasuke avoided talking about Sakura at all costs which made Naruto angry. He wanted to get things worked out before she returned, but Sasuke refused to talk to Naruto about her. Naruto didn't really have anyone else to talk to since Tsunade was even busier than usual with her Hokage duties. Waiting was not Naruto's strong point, and without someone to talk to, someone to vent to, he was getting ready to snap.

Naruto finally decided to go to Sasuke in the only way he knew how without speaking, hoping to relieve some of his frustrations. Frustrations at himself for feeling so unsettled at Sakura's pending return. Feeling angry at himself for being so unfaithful to his wife while she was away. And most of all, feeling angry at Sasuke for how unwilling he seemed to be at accepting Sakura's return.

Naruto clenched and unclenched his hands, the feelings coursing through his body making him swell up with emotions, making him angry, making him just want to hit, to hurt, to fight. Naruto didn't bother to knock as he swung open Sasuke's front door and ran to Sasuke's bedroom.

As soon as Naruto entered Sasuke's bedroom, Sasuke could tell that Naruto was upset about something.

"Naruto-" Sasuke said, his hand reaching out to calm down Naruto, but Naruto wasn't in a mood to be calmed down through a comforting hand. Naruto swung his fist, nearly clipping Sasuke in the side of his face. Sasuke swung back, and Naruto caught his fist. "What is your problem?" Sasuke demanded angry that Naruto was swinging at him without any reason.

"If you're not going to talk to me then you ought to shut-up too!" Naruto hissed, and he pushed Sasuke up against the wall, crushing his lips against Sasuke's with enough force that made Sasuke's head bang into the wall. Sasuke's eyes went wide, and his body almost went limp at Naruto's action.

Naruto put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and shoved him harder into the wall. Sasuke growled, realizing that now was not the time for him to go limp since apparently Naruto didn't want that. Instead, Sasuke took the opportunity to press his lips harder against Naruto's. He gripped onto Naruto's shirt with his left hand and pulled a kunai from his weapon's pouch from another. The kunai came up in a flash, slicing through Naruto's shirt, his black mesh shirt appearing, looking erotic as it clung to Naruto's chest.

Sasuke's hand was a blur as he slashed at Naruto's clothing, leaving the blond in nothing but shreds and tatters.

"Bastard," Naruto hissed as he pulled his lips away from Sasuke before redirecting his mouth. He bit hard into Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke hissed back at the pain as Naruto began to suck and gently run his tongue over the spot he had bitten. He moved his hands down to Sasuke's waist, fumbling with the rope belt that kept his pants up before untying it, and then shoving Sasuke's pants to the floor. Sasuke moaned as Naruto licked at his neck. He allowed the kunai to clatter from his grasp as his hands came up to grasp into Naruto's blond hair. Sasuke rubbed his cock against Naruto's, closing his eyes as he panted at the feeling. Naruto moaned into Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke," Naruto moaned against Sasuke's shoulder. The sound of Sasuke's name escaping so sensually from Naruto's lips resonated through Sasuke, making the very core of his being quake and his body shiver excitedly. Hearing Naruto speak his name made him fly into a state of euphoria.

Hardly any more words escaped from Naruto's mouth as he began to bite, lick, and suck all over Sasuke's body while raking his nails up and down Sasuke's sides and shoulders.

Naruto was being extremely rough with Sasuke's body, and Sasuke actually hissed at the pain. If it weren't for the fact that Sasuke had waited so long for Naruto to come to him like this, he probably would have demanded Naruto not to bite him so hard or dig his nails into him quite so ferociously.

When Naruto began to grip his cock and pump it hard was the first time that Sasuke had to tell Naruto to stop being so hard.

"Fuck! Not so hard!" Sasuke grunted, slapping away at Naruto's hand.

"Hn," Naruto grunted out, digging his nails harder into Sasuke's body. Sasuke growled and glared down at where Naruto's nails were digging into his sides.

"Naruto-" Sasuke growled shoving Naruto off of him and then pushing him to the floor. Naruto grunted, looking up at Sasuke challengingly. "Get on all fours," Sasuke said huskily. Naruto smirked back at him, getting on his hands on knees in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke growled again, wondering if Naruto knew what he was doing was so fucking hot, wondering if Naruto was purposefully trying to make him go into a frenzied state of lust. With the way that Naruto looked back at him knowingly, Sasuke took that as a yes. Sasuke slid his body on top of Naruto's and bit gently at the back of Naruto's neck. Naruto moaned and arched his back as Sasuke used his legs to nudge Naruto's legs apart, thrusting inside of him as Naruto thrust back.

"Itai!" Naruto cried in pain.

"Shit," Sasuke grunted, stopping his thrust. He'd been way too hard with Naruto and had thrust in at an awkward angle. He pulled out slowly, trying to be gently. He could tell that he had torn Naruto and badly. "Naruto," Sasuke said apologetically.

"Fucking shit," Naruto hissed angrily. "That _hurt_." Sasuke pulled out of Naruto the rest of the way, feeling frustrated and angry at hurting Naruto like that. Sasuke knew that Naruto liked things rough, but he wasn't used to Naruto being so active in having sex. The last time that they had had rough sex was before Sasuke stopped using his sharingan on Naruto. Since things had been mutual, their love making had been "normal" so to speak. Nothing rough – nothing without preparation. Sasuke hadn't anticipated Naruto to move his body like that since he hadn't had his sharingan activated. He was so used to knowing how Naruto's body would move and adjusting for it by using his sharingan that he hadn't thought of the consequences of what would happen to Naruto if he didn't use his sharingan for rough sex.

"Damn," Sasuke cursed again, watching as a small amount of blood trickled from between Naruto's legs. He knew that Naruto would heal, but to know that he was the cause of it didn't make Sasuke feel any better. Sasuke was half hoping that Naruto would just want to continue, despite it, but he had felt that tear, and he was sure that it wasn't something that Naruto would be able to get pleasure from until it healed.

Naruto rolled onto his side, groaning.

"This sucks," he muttered as he began to pump at his own arousal. "It hurts, but I'm still hard," Naruto complained, pumping himself faster. Sasuke's erection had begun to go down at realizing he wasn't going to be getting any from Naruto, but watching Naruto palm himself made him hard again.

Without saying a word, Sasuke moved so that he was laying 69 style with Naruto. Naruto seemed to realize what Sasuke was doing, and let go of his own arousal as he grasped onto Sasuke's cock and put him in his mouth. Sasuke groaned in utter bliss as he grabbed Naruto's cock and did the same thing.

Sasuke had never experimented thoroughly with Naruto's body, but he was going to start experimenting now when Naruto didn't seem to care, when Naruto wasn't thinking about the fact that Sasuke wasn't the one that he had made wedding vows to. Sasuke tried hard not to think that Naruto might never let him experiment with his body ever again.

Having Naruto's cock in his mouth wasn't quite what Sasuke had expected it to be. Naruto had a distinct texture to his cock, and Sasuke could feel the pulsing of Naruto's blood flowing to his dick as Sasuke moved his head up and down on Naruto. Unsurprisingly, Naruto's penis tasted like sex smelt, and Sasuke found that he liked licking at Naruto's cock.

And Naruto was doing wicked things to his own body in the meantime.

Feeling Naruto's tongue and warm mouth on his body was a lot different than being inside of Naruto's body. He knew which one he preferred, but the novelty of having Naruto pleasuring his body, wanting to pleasure his body, made such an erotic psychological impact on Sasuke that it wasn't long before he was half panting and half choking on Naruto's cock as he came into Naruto's mouth, Naruto following closely behind him, squirting his sperm into Sasuke's mouth.

Sasuke swallowed most of it, but some leaked out of his mouth, and he wiped at his cheek. He could tell that Naruto hadn't gotten hardly any of his, but he could care less. It had felt too good for him to care about such a little detail like that.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk evilly at he put Naruto's slightly deflated cock back into his mouth and ran his teeth lightly over the head.

"Aa-a-" Naruto moaned and he jerked his body away from Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke chuckled darkly, knowing how sensitive Naruto's body must have been as he teased Naruto's now ticklish cock.

"Jerk," Naruto grunted out. Sasuke smirked, liking the fact that he knew how Naruto's body worked a lot better than Sakura could have since he had the same anatomy as Naruto.

"I love you too," Sasuke said. Naruto sat up from the floor, his eyes flashing at Sasuke's statement.

"I know," Naruto murmured before he made himself comfortable on the bed and prepared to fall alseep. Sasuke sighed, wishing Naruto would just admit that he loved him back. He could feel that Naruto loved him more than Sakura. Why couldn't Naruto just admit it?

* * *

"Shizune-san!"

Shizune turned as a nurse approached her, looking stricken.

"We have a situation on our hands. Someone found a body of what appears to be a shinobi. We need help in identifying the body. Since you are also a shinobi, perhaps you know the victim. It was hidden extremely well. The villager had several hunting dogs with him, and the dogs kept sniffing at what appeared to be freshly turned earth. The villager got curious at what the dogs were looking for. He allowed the dogs to dig in the dirt, and they unearthed the body. It was clearly a murder."

Picking up her pace, Shizune followed the nurse down the corridor of Konoha hospital quickly. There were no reports of missing shinobi that she was aware of, so to have one come up dead-

Shizune gasped as she saw the face of the unidentified corpse that had been brought into Konoha hospital.

"The villager dug up her body about an hour's walk outside of Konoha," the nurse said worriedly, looking at Shizune and her horrified expression.

"Leave," Shizune said.

"Shizune-san-"

"Leave!" Shizune bellowed. The woman scampered from the room.

A quick medical examination immediately told Shizune that cause of death. The cause of death also immediately gave away not just how the death had occurred, but also the murderer.

How was she supposed to tell Naruto...? And Tsunade? What was going to happen?

Shizune wiped tears from her eyes, mortified that a person could kill someone so close to them. Shizune felt numb as she did her best to clean Sakura's body. Her mind thought furiously as she formulated a plan on how to proceed with the explanation of Sakura's death.

* * *

Naruto felt lazy as he awoke. He stretched feeling sated, feeling the familiar wave of guilt wash over him even heavier than before. He stared at the ceiling, wishing for the days when the worst he had to worry about feeling guilty over was whether or not he smelled bad for the rest of his team if he forgot to shower.

The weight of the real world was doing a number on his cheerful personality. Naruto looked over on Sasuke's bed, noting that Sasuke wasn't there anymore. Naruto sighed, wishing he could talk with Sasuke. Stretching some more, Naruto got out of bed in the buff and walked from Sasuke's room to his room. Even though more often than not, he and Sasuke shared Sasuke's room, Naruto still had all of his things in another room. Well, he had had most of his things there. Naruto had been moving things back into his own place anticipating Sakura's return. Naruto was getting dressed when he finally noticed the bird outside.

_Caw! Caw! Caw!_

"Hm?" Naruto muttered, looking out his window, seeing the summons from the bird informing him that he was wanted at the Hokage's office.

He decided he better see what Tsunade wanted, wondering if she would have any more news as to when Sakura would be coming home. Naruto practically dragged his feet, feeling the guilt bubble up inside him heavier and heavier.

* * *

"Sakura's dead," Tsunade said simply to Naruto upon his arrival to the Hokage office.

Naruto's entire mind went blank. Dead? What did Tsunade mean _dead_? Sakura couldn't possibly be dead. It just wasn't possible.

"What?" Naruto breathed.

"I'm so sorry Naruto. She's really gone," Tsunade said. Naruto shook his head.

"No, you're wrong! She can't be dead. Not Sakura. You're wrong. You have to be wrong," Naruto said, taking a step back from Tsunade as though she were mentally unstable.

"Naruto-" Tsunade said softly.

"No," Naruto all but whispered, shaking his head back and forth, unwilling to believe. Tsunade reached her hand out to gently grasp Naruto's wrist. Naruto almost pulled his hand away from her, but Tsunade was quick and grasped his hand gently before he had the chance. Tsunade didn't say a word as she led Naruto to an adjacent room attached to her office that Naruto knew she used for medical purposes.

The world seemed to slow as Naruto walked through the door. Everything moved around him in a slow blur as his eyes landed immediately upon a medical table. Sakura laid spread out on the table, as though asleep, her eyes closed, her hands at her sides. Her skin was a waxy pale color, even paler than Sasuke's. Yet it was clear that she couldn't be asleep because her chest did not rise and fall with the slow rhythm of breath. Naruto had to put a hand to his mouth. He could smell the death emanating from her body. The scent of rotting flesh was barely masked by the smell of some sort of cleaning disinfectant.

Naruto's body moved of its own accord as he neared the table, peering down at his wife's body, looking at her with wide, almost unseeing eyes.

Yet he did see. He took in every inch of her body, noting how everything seemed peaceful. Not a scratch marred her, and yet here she was, laid out in death.

"H-how?" Naruto asked, his voice coming out hoarse as tears began to stream down his face, as his chest seemed to contract in a sharp pain. Breathing was becoming so difficult, and he couldn't make out more than that one word.

Tsunade moved towards him gently, and Naruto saw that she too was crying. Tsunade gently reached out to tilt Sakura's head to the side, and Naruto nearly threw up. The way that Sakura had been laid on the table, with her pink hair fanning out at her neck and shoulders had hidden the wound at the base of her head. A hole the size of a standard kunai was the only mar to Sakura's body, a deadly mark.

"Single wound to the head with a kunai," Tsunade supplied. Naruto's mind whirled. Only someone with extreme upper body strength could kill someone with just a single kunai stab to the head. Naruto's mind was going numb, but rage was engulfing his entire body.

"Who?" Naruto demanded.

"It's hard to say for sure, but the evidence does lead to one person..."

"WHO?" Naruto bellowed. Tsunade sighed.

"Sasuke."

Naruto had disappeared in a rage from the room before Tsunade had finished saying his name.

**Next Chapter: In Shock**

* * *

I feel the need to do mention a few things. The first thing I feel the need to do is to remind you that this fic was put into the angst genre for a reason. The second thing I feel the need is to run away from all those glares I'm receiving! Eeep! Don't hurt me! (Review, please?) - Jelp


	13. Chapter 13: In Shock

So I don't have to keep telling everyone who asks: YES THIS STORY HAS A (mostly, sorta, kinda) HAPPY ENDING

So I don't have to keep telling everyone who asks: YES THIS STORY HAS A (mostly, sorta, kinda) HAPPY ENDING! Ye of little faith. (Although this chapter is full of lots of angst, just fyi. -.-")

**Mine**

* * *

_"It's hard to say for sure, but the evidence does lead to one person..."_

_"WHO?" Naruto bellowed. Tsunade sighed._

_"Sasuke."_

_Naruto had disappeared in a rage from the room before Tsunade had finished saying his name._

* * *

**Chapter 13: In Shock**

Naruto felt numb. He felt the utter rage of betrayal, but it seemed to be bubbling below the surface ready to explode at any moment. His body moved without conscious thought of where he was headed, but he knew instinctually where he was going.

Sasuke.

Naruto shook his head, burning tears falling down his face, unable to stop them, not caring to either.

Sasuke.

It was his fault, Naruto mused. His, not Sasuke's. He had led Sasuke on, and he had killed Sakura in his jealousy. He should have been able to stop all of this. He should have never given Sasuke any stupid ideas.

_Sasuke._

But damnit! What the hell was Sasuke thinking? Sakura was his wife. He loved Sakura. And now he'd never be able to see her again. Sasuke was an asshole. Selfish. Uncaring. Didn't he see what he would do to Naruto? Sasuke didn't really care about him. He couldn't really care about him if he would murder Sakura.

_Sasuke._

Naruto ground his teeth together in anger, anger at himself. How could he have been so foolish? Why had he been so obsessed over Sasuke? He'd spent three years of his life chasing the bastard, and more recently, he had been cheating on Sakura because of Sasuke. Why couldn't he get away from him?

Well he would now. He'd make sure he'd never see Sasuke ever again. He would have his revenge.

Revenge. Sasuke knew what that was like. Perhaps Naruto would regret his revenge as much as Sasuke regretted his, but at least Naruto would be justified. At least Naruto knew for sure that his revenge was not befuddled by twists and turns.

_Sasuke!_

"I hate you!" Naruto yelled.

* * *

Tsunade stretched as she walked into her office, rubbing at her eyes. She had had a nice dinner out at her favorite dango stand (that also happen to sell cheap sake), and she wasn't looking forward to getting back to her piles of paperwork after such a nice meal.

"I'm ready to be rid of this job," Tsunade mumbled to herself. Not feeling ready to get to work, Tsunade bypassed the chair of her desk and reached for the bottom drawer where she kept the sake hidden. She stopped mid-motion when she saw that her adjacent medical room door was open. Tsunade narrowed her eyes when she felt the familiar chakra signature in the other room, wondering what was going on.

Tsunade entered her medical room, and stopped short, taking in the scene before her.

Sakura's body lay on the medical table, her body half wrapped in traditional burial dressings. Her body seemed exceptionally kept for someone who had been dead for two weeks, and Tsunade was sure that someone had to have performed some jutsu on the body.

Tsunade's eyes trailed over to see _herself_ hovering over Sakura's body carefully dressing it for a proper burial. Tsunade gasped. Tsunade had to do a double take before she realized it was Shizune, henged to look like the Hokage. It was clearly Shizune due to the chakra emanating from her, but Shizune's appearance startled her.

Why was Shizune in a henge, looking like her?

"I wondered when you would return from dinner," Shizune said, except that Tsunade's voice came from her lips, disapproving.

"What's going on?" Tsunade asked quietly, though she had a feeling she had a good idea. "Why are you in a henge that looks like me?" Shizune lifted the henge with the releasing seal. A dry sob wracked her body as she turned to look at her Hokage.

"How could you?" Shizune asked. "She was your pupil! You killed Sakura!"

"She tried to kill me. I'd be dead if Naruto and Sasuke hadn't showed up when they did. She's no pupil of mine. I gave her a chance to go and never come back. She should have stayed away when she had the chance," Tsunade said darkly.

"That was over a year ago that she attacked you! She was upset! She-"

"Why were you henged like me?" Tsunade demanded, cutting Shizune off. Shizune looked away from Tsunade as she put her face in her hands.

"How could _you_ of all people be capable of something like this?"

"Her death was quick and painless. I even henged into Sasuke to try and make her death seem more justifiable to her. I thought in her last moments seeing Sasuke as her would-be-murderer might bring her some comfort as she would have expected it from him," Tsunade explained. She didn't bother to add that the recognition on Sakura's face clearly told Tsunade that Sakura hadn't fallen for it. But at least Tsunade had tried to make it as easy on Sakura as possible.

"You two were so close," Shizune said as she continued to wrap Sakura's body, a tear slipping down her face. "Would you do the same to me?" Shizune asked bitterly.

"Sakura and I were not that close. She and I had Naruto in common. I wouldn't have agreed to train her if she hadn't told me she wanted to be stronger for her teammates' sake. And of course I wouldn't kill you. You're like family. You would never try and harm me. Your attitude now proves that."

Tsunade's words didn't seem to comfort Shizune. Instead, she seemed more disgusted with herself than anything else.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw the wound," Shizune said, wiping the tear away. "But all the medical evidence was there. The amount of strength needed to lodge the kunai in that way clearly had to be a male with great upper body strength – or someone who could naturally enhance their strength. The angle of entry ruled out suicide as it's not physically possible for Sakura to have inflicted the wound in such a manner. The angle of entry also showed medical knowledge, precisely done in a manner that would kill the victim instantaneously, a style you were known for back during the last Great Shinobi War. It all pointed to you."

"You still haven't answered my question. Why were-"

"I told Naruto."

Tsunade was silent for a few moments.

"_What?_"

"I knew it was you. I panicked. I feared that someone in the hospital might have recognized Sakura's body. The first person they would ask about her death would naturally be her husband, Naruto. So I called him here before someone else found him and told him anything. I henged into you and told him that Sasuke was the murderer."

"_You told him what_?!" Tsunade bellowed.

"What was I supposed to do?! I couldn't tell him it was you! And Sasuke seems the most obvious person with a motive to kill Sakura."

"Why tell him it was Sasuke then?! If Naruto does something foolish, he might try and kill Sasuke. Without Sasuke, that's like a death sentence for Naruto…" Tsunade trailed off.

"I thought about it! Of course Naruto wouldn't try and kill Sasuke. He's probably the only person who he wouldn't kill for killing Sakura. And this is _your_ fault! You killed Sakura and then didn't even dispose of her body properly. Oh dear kami-sama! Poor, poor Sakura!" Shizune moaned, her hands coming up and stroking Sakura's cheek gently. "You didn't deserve this."

"Why the hell didn't you wait for me? Why didn't you find me?" Tsunade asked furiously. Shizune didn't answer her, but the way that Shizune's eyes looked at Sakura's body she had a feeling. "You were afraid I was going to kill you too?" Tsunade asked quietly. Shizune avoided the question.

"Why bury her body? You should have disposed of it better," Shizune said bitterly, wiping tears from her face.

"A body had to be present for proof later on. It wasn't as though I could keep the body lying around here, not with Kiba and Akamaru coming in here to report missions. They would be able to recognize her smell."

"Proof, what proof?" Shizune asked.

"Of my treachery, of course," Tsunade said, as though that point were obvious.

"What?" Shizune said, aghast.

"I'm getting too old for this job, and I'm tired of it. Finding the dead wife of Naruto at my hands, the villagers would demand for him to replace me as Hokage in their outrage. No one would ever ask me to look at another damnable report again, and Naruto would be thrust into office with more than welcoming arms, even from those who had opposed him before. Sasuke and he would end up together, and Sasuke would make sure to take care of Naruto when I leave."

"Leave? Tsunade – what you're talking about is utter insanity! No one would let you leave! You would be tried and-"

"Do you think I would be around for that? I have been making preparations to leave before her body was found," Tsunade paused, putting a hand to her head and rubbing her temple. "This whole situation has become problematic."

"You talk of this as it is _nothing_? What's _wrong_ with you? What happened to the Tsunade that-"

Tsunade turned on Shizune.

"I have seen people die Shizune! I have been unable to save far too many. I have protected Konoha as best I can, and my best is not good enough. The only other person besides you that I care about, who is still living and breathing is Naruto, and Sakura's meddling could have killed him. She had the nerve, _the nerve_, to make an attempt on my life. I taught her! I taught her and she tried to kill me-"

"She was drunk-"

"Tipsy at best! The ANBU guards were right. Once I had sobered up, and after Sakura had left, I was able to look at things in a clearer focus."

Shizune took a look at Tsunade, shaking her head.

"You've been drinking. You were probably drinking then. You-you're not in your right mind," Shizune said, as though trying to make up excuses for Tsunade, trying not to recognize that Tsunade had gone mad.

"I'm fine," Tsunade snapped, waving her hand around. "Now, things have changed. I need to rearrange some things due to your lapse in judgment about telling Naruto about Sakura."

Shizune looked outraged that Tsunade had the nerve to tell her that she had a lapse in judgment, but wisely kept her mouth shut.

* * *

"Where the hell are you, you bastard?!" Naruto bellowed, as he searched through their – no, Naruto had to stop calling it that – Sasuke's home. Naruto felt sick with himself as he looked around. He had found solace here when he shouldn't have. Sakura had left, and he'd enjoyed being with Sasuke so much more than he should have in her absence.

An overwhelming sense of guilt washed over Naruto. He knew that type of lengths that Sasuke went through when he truly desired something. And part of Naruto had a hard time blaming Sasuke for wanting to stay with Naruto so he wouldn't have to be alone. Naruto knew that he was the only person that Sasuke was truly close to. If Naruto were to limit his interaction with Sasuke due to Sakura's return, Naruto could understand the fear that Sasuke had probably felt – though the bastard would never admit it – of the knowledge that he would be alone again.

Naruto cursed. What was wrong with Sasuke? Didn't he know that Sasuke was the one that kept him alive? Didn't he know that Naruto _needed_ Sasuke? And not just for physical needs but emotional ones as well. Sasuke was his friend. His BEST friend. And yes, Sasuke was right. Naruto cared more about his friend than he had his wife.

But that hadn't meant the fucking bastard could kill her! Naruto loved Sakura. She was his wife. His dear Sakura...

Naruto wept openly. She was gone. He had lost her. And he had lost Sasuke too.

What was Sasuke thinking? How could Sasuke expect Naruto to be with him if he killed Sakura? It just didn't make sense! Sasuke was a genius – he should know better! Naruto shook his head. Sasuke _should_ know better, but there were time that Naruto knew his friend...his lover...didn't think rationally.

Naruto cursed at himself. Even though Sasuke had killed Sakura, he couldn't bring himself to hate the bastard. Still, he couldn't bring himself to want to be with the bastard either. He could never again have sex with him knowing that Sasuke had murdered Sakura.

If he couldn't do that...

Naruto swallowed, knowing what the implications meant. No Sasuke. No sex. No Naruto.

It was the only thing that Naruto could think of to make up for being partially responsible for Sakura's death – forfeit his own life.

But it scared Naruto. He didn't want to die, not really. But he couldn't be with Sasuke again. Without Sasuke around, Naruto would slowly die. Yet he didn't want to just die, wasting away as his body gave out on him without properly balancing his yin and yang. He was a ninja – a shinobi. A shinobi died fighting.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled again, banging around the outside of the Uchiha complex, looking for Sasuke. "This is your fault! You have to help me fix it!" When Naruto still couldn't find Sasuke outside near his house, Naruto went inside to wait for him. His anger couldn't be contained.

"Argh!" Naruto cried out in frustration as he punched a hole in Sasuke's wall, his chest heaving as a dry sob wracked through his body. He sank to the floor and began to cry. Naruto swiped a hand across his eyes, wiping at his tears. Looking at the back of his hand at his tears, Naruto got an idea.

* * *

Sasuke walked through the streets of Konoha, scanning the crowds for any sign of pink hair. He couldn't help himself. Sakura's return would mean a drastic change in the relationship he and Naruto had formed over the past year. And after today...

Sasuke closed his eyes, allowing a smile to grace his lips. Naruto had come to him, willingly. Sasuke hadn't instigated anything, and Naruto had even let them fool.

Licking his lips, Sasuke wondered if he could ask something of Naruto he had been curious about for some time. With his sharingan activated, Sasuke was able to watch Naruto's body move, watch the tremors that shook through his body. Sasuke was curious. What would it be like if Naruto were to be inside of him?

The idea made Sasuke shiver excitedly, knowing that would mean that their sex had nothing at all to do with keeping Naruto's chakra balanced: just pure, blissful, lovemaking. The idea made him aroused, and he adjusted his loose pants just in case anyone bothered to look.

Once, when he and Naruto had been drinking, he'd managed to wriggle out of Naruto that having anal sex was more stimulating, more intense, than having his cock fucked. Sasuke smirked. The idea that he truly could give Naruto better and more intense sex than Sakura made Sasuke's head swell.

Sasuke sighed. Once again thinking about Sakura made his arousal deflate. He whimsically wished she would return and divorce Naruto, claiming that she had realized that Sasuke was the better choice for Naruto. Wouldn't that just be perfect? He doubted that would happen though. Still, he'd been thinking...

He had a feeling that Naruto might be adverse to an idea Sasuke had, might even hate Sasuke for suggesting it, but he was also sure that Naruto would agree to it in the end. Sasuke also had a feeling that Sakura would agree to it too. Sasuke had been thinking long and hard about how to make Sakura's return easier – on him. He was selfish, and he knew it. He knew Naruto might not like the concept of Sasuke's idea at first, but Sasuke was sure Naruto would forgive him for suggesting it even if Naruto said no. Sasuke would go through with it – unwillingly so – if it meant he wasn't cut off from Naruto.

If Sakura agreed, Sasuke had contemplated – his arousal was completely and utterly gone now – asking Sakura if she'd be willing for a threesome. If Sasuke could include Sakura, perhaps Naruto and he could still be together? Then again, Naruto might feel jealous if Sakura said yes. He had a feeling the idea of Sakura with him might be a sore spot for Naruto. Naruto would get over it though, and forgive him, once he saw that they could work out that way. If he could stand to be in a threesome with Sakura, certainly everything would be okay then, wouldn't it?

Sasuke took another fleeting glance around the crowded market area, wondering if he would spot Sakura. He was sure that she would probably head for Naruto first, but that didn't stop him from looking around to ask her about his idea before she got to Naruto and requested he come right back to her. Sasuke was in no particular rush at the moment, although he saw his destination in front of him. This time as he searched the crowd, he looked for Naruto's mop of blond hair. The last he had seen Naruto, he had been sleeping peacefully in their bed. Even so, Naruto might have woken up hungry since then, and everyone knew that Ichiraku Ramen was Naruto's favorite place to eat. Sasuke was slightly disappointed that he didn't get a chance to meet Naruto there, but no matter. He was there to get take out anyway.

"Four take out pints of miso ramen," Sasuke ordered as he got up to the counter. The owner smiled at him.

"Having Naruto over for dinner while his wife is away?" Teuchi asked. Sasuke merely nodded. Apparently to the ramen storeowner a large order of miso ramen and Naruto went hand in hand. Though Teuchi's choice of words made Sasuke wonder. Sakura had been gone for over a _year_. He wondered if Teuchi was implying something else about Naruto and him. Sasuke idly wondered if anyone suspected the two of their..._affair_. They had always spent a lot of time together, so it might not seem suspicious if the two of them were together even more with Sakura gone. He wondered if their relationship seemed suspicious to anyone. If so, it didn't bother Sasuke any what others thought, though he had a feeling it might bother Naruto some.

After a few minutes of waiting, Teuchi handed him the bag of take out. Sasuke handed the man the money along with a hefty tip before heading back to his home.

_Home_. It had only been home again since Naruto had moved in. Sasuke closed his eyes, praying that it would still feel like home when Sakura returned.

* * *

Sasuke frowned when he heard a crash inside of his home. He could feel Naruto's chakra spiking, and he hoped Naruto was okay. He was probably just training. Normally Sasuke would have said something to Naruto about training inside his house, but he didn't want anything to spoil any more Sakura-free time before her return. As Sasuke opened the door, he was surprised as Naruto stood in front of the door looking at him enraged.

Naruto snarled as he threw red pepper powder into Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke cried out in pain dropping the pints of ramen as he rubbed furiously at his eyes before his brain caught up with his instinctual reaction, realizing rubbing would just make it worse. It burned so much!

"Now you won't be able to use your fucked up sharingan!" Naruto yelled angrily.

"What the fuck Naruto?!" Sasuke yelled in anger as his eyes continued to burn, his eyes tearing up at the intense pain.

"I wish I'd never met you!" Naruto yelled. The way in which those words came from Naruto's lips caught Sasuke off guard as a pain even worse than the horrible burning in his eyes ripped through his heart.

Sasuke grunted as Naruto punched his face and then his shoulder.

"Fight back!" But Sasuke refused. Something was seriously wrong. For Naruto to attack him without warning as soon as he got home, and for Naruto to use red pepper powder on his eyes wasn't like him at all. Naruto knew that it made it near impossible for Sasuke to use his sharingan with that, and Naruto had never done that because it was like saying Sasuke needed a handicap for Naruto to win. That would wound Naruto's pride. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. Why was Naruto attacking him so viciously? Sasuke wasn't about to fight back until he knew why.

"Stop Naruto! What the hell is going on?" Sasuke raised his arm to block Naruto's punch. Not fighting didn't mean he would let himself be used a punching bag though. Even so, the pepper in his eyes seared so much it really would be hard to fight back.

"Fight damnit!" Naruto said as he punched Sasuke in the stomach.

"Naruto-" Sasuke gasped out, pain searing through his eyes.

"Why aren't you fighting me?" Naruto began to cry.

"I don't-"

"I know it was my fault, but why?!" Naruto screamed. Sasuke kept his eyes shut in his pain, trying to get away from Naruto, running down the hall into the kitchen and to running water.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke cried over his shoulder as he fumbled around blindly, the pain intensifying as his eyes burned badly.

"It should have been me, you bastard!"

"Wha-"

"Kill me!" Naruto cried as he pushed Sasuke, throwing something at him. Sasuke grunted as he felt the familiar weight of his sword shoved into his stomach by its hilt. He let himself fall to the ground, refusing to get up. A cold fear dripped through Sasuke at Naruto's words. It was hard for him to think with Naruto yelling at him, and the pain that burned his eyes. "Just a kunai?! Why not at least your sword? That would have been more honorable than a _kunai_!"

'Kill Naruto? Naruto wants me to kill him? My sword? What is Naruto doing with my sword? What kunai is he talking about?' Sasuke stayed still on the floor, hoping Naruto would stop fighting so they could talk – and so Sasuke could treat his eyes.

"Get up!" Naruto bellowed between sobs. Sasuke put his arm over his eyes, putting pressure on them, wildly hoping the cloth would absorb some of the pepper from the water his tears provided. He could feel Naruto getting closer to him. Sasuke didn't flinch when Naruto kicked him. "I said get-"

Sasuke kicked Naruto's legs from out from under him. Naruto fell to the floor, still sobbing. Sasuke rolled on top of Naruto, using his body weight to pin Naruto beneath him.

"What is going on?! What's the matter with you?" Sasuke demanded, placing his eyes firmly against the crook in Naruto's shoulder to stop the searing pain.

"You're the matter with me! This is all your fault," Naruto said, sobbing harder as his body began to shake with sobs. "No...it's mine. I should never have led you on..." Sasuke swallowed hard.

"Wh-what? Is it about Sakura. Is she-"

"Don't you dare talk about Sakura!" Naruto hissed, struggling again as he pushed Sasuke off of him. Sasuke grunted as he figured it must mean that whatever Naruto was upset about had to do with Sakura.

"What's wrong Naruto?!" Sasuke demanded frantically, trying and failing to keep his panic hidden. He was never good at hiding his emotions from Naruto. If it had been anyone else, Sasuke wouldn't have lost his cool.

"FIGHT!" Naruto yelled, flinging Sasuke's beloved sword back into his stomach. Still practically blinded, Sasuke grasped Kusanagi in his hand. He put it in a defensive position in front of him. Blearily he could make out Naruto coming to attack him with a kunai in each hand.

"Stop!" Sasuke demanded, holding his sword in front of him to try and deflect the kunai in Naruto's hands.

The next moment, Sasuke almost felt like he had his sharingan activated because of how slow Naruto seemed to move as he attacked. Sasuke didn't move his sword, figuring he would try and block the kunai attack if he could. Instead, at the last minute, Naruto twisted his body, dropping the kunai to the ground in a clatter of metal on tile.

Naruto's words from earlier, _"Kill me!"_ rang through Sasuke's ears, and a horrible realization of what Naruto was trying to do dawned on him. At the last moment, Sasuke twisted the sword to his left, but was caught off guard as Naruto's whispered words contradicted with his enraged movements.

"I love you," Naruto murmured.

Time seemed to speed up again as Sasuke felt his sword slice through flesh before he blurrily watched and heard the sickening thud of Naruto's body hit the ground.

Sasuke stood in shock for half a second before screaming.

"NARUTO!"

**Next Chapter: The True Killer**

* * *

:hobbles away as fast as possible on crutches away from angry readers: Oh come on! Did you honestly expect Sasuke to kill Sakura? Sasuke's not that stupid.

Please excuse any errors in this chapter as there might be more than usual. I edit my own fics, but as I've had surgery this week, I've noticed the pain meds are making me a little loopy and dizzy. (Walking on crutches while being dizzy is not fun – though funny for others as they watch me.)

Look for an update within the next week and a half.

Let me know what you thought of this chapter! - Jelp


	14. Chapter 14: The True Killer

For lL0tus fans, or for anyone looking for a good story, my dear, beloved, beautiful (as well as deranged and terrifying) friend, lL0tus has finally (yay!) begun posting the revised version of "Cats Bell: My Pleasure Doll" under the new title "Cats Bell: My Pleasure Ningyou." (Ningyou means doll in Chinese. Yay for Chinese! I love Japanese, but I speak some Chinese as well.) If you have skipped over the author notes in "Mine" before, lL0tus happens to be the slave driver who demands regular updates on this fic. (She's scary, so I have no choice but to obey.)

Also, feel free to check out my profile page for an update schedule for "Mine" and my other fics. Now enjoy the chapter!

* * *

_"I love you," Naruto murmured._

_Time seemed to speed up again as Sasuke felt his sword slice through flesh before he blurrily watched and heard the sickening thud of Naruto's body hit the ground._

_Sasuke stood in shock for half a second before screaming._

_"NARUTO!"_

**Mine**

**Chapter 14: The True Killer**

"Tsunade! Where the hell are you?!" Sasuke bellowed as he burst into the Hokage office, breathing hard after carrying Naruto to be healed. He watched as the color began to drain completely from Naruto's face, his skin a deathly shade of white. He wasn't losing much blood, but the shock was clearly affecting his body.

"Naruto's dying!" Sasuke yelled, trying to keep himself calm but failing miserably. Only Naruto could make him lose his cool under _normal_ circumstances – the thought of losing Naruto made him want to go berserk. He was sure that Naruto wouldn't die, not _physically_ at least. But Naruto might die mentally if he wasn't treated soon.

"What are you yelling about?" Tsunade asked angrily as she came out of her side room, looking extremely annoyed, only to stop dead as she looked at Naruto lying limp in Sasuke's arms. Sasuke could see her mind analyzing why Naruto looked so strange in his arms before she saw what lie on top of and detached from the rest of Naruto's body: his _leg_.

"He wasn't acting himself! He came at me, hysterical, like he was trying to kill me or rather himself..." Sasuke shook his head, feeling mortified. He wasn't sure what was going on. "He threw something in my eyes." In fact his eyes still burned horribly, but he barely noticed the pain in his panic. "I couldn't see, and I drew my sword...and I thought he would be able to dodge, but...he was screaming he wanted _me_ to kill _him_," Sasuke choked out.

"What are you doing just standing there?! Get him in here so I can fix his leg!" Tsunade hissed angrily, looking almost as pale as Naruto did. Sasuke's senses kicked back into gear, and he followed Tsunade into the medical room, past Shizune who gasped as Sasuke walked by with Naruto in his arms. Tsunade glared at Shizune angrily, as though the current situation were her fault before quickly moving past her. Tsunade flung some sort of medical book that was on one of the stretchers clear across the room, making it crash into the wall so Sasuke had a clear place to lay Naruto down. Sasuke watched mortified as he watched Tsunade take Naruto's right leg and placed it below the stump. It looked so fake as though it couldn't possibly be real.

Sasuke's sword had his lightning element infused in it, so Naruto's wound was cauterized. That was good in that it stopped the bleeding. That was bad because he could have completely fried the nerves, meaning Naruto's leg would not be able to be sewn back on. Meaning Naruto...Naruto would never be a shinobi again without his leg. Never be Hokage. He wondered if he had just given Naruto a different kind of death.

Sasuke stood, shaking his head as Tsunade used a pair of scissors to cut the orange fabric away from Naruto's leg, and then used it to cut the fabric area from around the stump. Suddenly, Shizune was pushing Sasuke away from the table so she too could help Tsunade. Sasuke looked about him helplessly, his eyes landing on the other medical stretcher in the room to distract him. What was on the other table sure as hell distracted him.

Sasuke didn't think he could be in any more shock after cutting off Naruto's leg. He was wrong.

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked dumbly. It looked like Sakura, lying there on the table, but she looked dead. "Sakura?" Sasuke asked again, walking towards the table, expecting her to answer him.

"Get out of here," Tsunade said, not even looking up from what she was doing to Naruto's leg.

"Is Sakura-"

"I said get _out_!"

"Is Sakura dead?" Sasuke whispered in shock, his sharingan swirling, able to tell him what his brain didn't want to register, not really needing a confirmation from the medical nin.

"Obviously! Now get out or I will have to throw you out and that will take away more time from Naruto's surgery than he has time to lose!" Tsunade bellowed. Sasuke squared his shoulders, half tempted to stay, but not sure if Tsunade's words were an idle threat just to make him leave or not. He looked at Naruto and decided he wouldn't take the chance before storming out of the medical office and out into the Hokage's office, sitting down roughly in a chair.

Sasuke deactivated his sharingan and stared icily ahead. His jaw was set firmly. His trembling clenched fists were the only indicator of the fear Sasuke felt as he sat and waited for Naruto to be okay.

The burn in his eyes was like nothing compared to the burn in his heart, but he still blamed the pain in his eyes as the reason he couldn't stop himself from crying.

* * *

When three hours had passed and neither Shizune nor Tsunade had come out to get him, Sasuke knew it wasn't good for Naruto. The pain in his eyes had long since dulled, and there was nothing else to distract him from his thoughts until someone knocked at the door. Sasuke glared at it, mentally daring the other person to come in and distract Tsunade from Naruto and see if he let them live.

"Tsunade-sama?" the voice asked through the door accompanied by a series of knocks, waiting for entry. Sasuke didn't recognize the voice and he didn't respond to it. "Hokage-sama?" the voice tried again. The door swung open, revealing an ANBU guard. Her short dark hair stuck out around her ANBU mask, and she searched the room.

"She's busy," Sasuke snarled, standing up from his chair, his sharingan activated.

"Where is Tsunade-sama?" the woman asked, unafraid of Sasuke.

"She's busy with a patient. Leave," Sasuke growled. The ANBU stepped forward unabashed.

"A patient? This isn't the hospital, and you've no right to order me around _boy_," she added.

"Why you-"

"Sato-san! Come back later. Tsunade-sama is busy, and you will only distract her at the moment!" Shizune said from behind Sasuke. He whirled around, looking at Shizune. He hadn't even heard the door open from the adjacent room, but clearly she had heard their conversation and it was distracting them. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock when he saw that the medical jacket Shizune had donned was covered in blood. Naruto hadn't been bleeding when he'd brought him in. Where had the blood come from?

"Naruto?" Sasuke breathed as his eyes raked over the blood splashed down her front. Shizune sighed sadly and shook her head.

"It doesn't look well," Shizune murmured back, the two of them trying to exclude the ANBU woman from their conversation.

"The Hokage?" Sato-san asked. Sasuke couldn't tell for sure because she wore her ANBU mask, but he was fairly certain that the woman was also eyeing the blood on Shizune's medical coat, clearly curious as to what was going on.

"In surgery," Shizune clipped, waving a hand down at the blood on her front as though that explained everything. She didn't bother to wait and see if Sato-san left or not as she re-emerged back into the room. Sasuke's attention turned back to look at the ANBU, glaring at her to leave. She gave him an appraising look (or so he assumed behind the mask) and turned and left.

Didn't these people know that Naruto's life was more important that all of Konoha, and Naruto deserved Tsunade's full attention? Foolish people.

Sasuke sat back down in the chair he hadn't left since three hours previous. Sasuke propped his elbow on the chair's arm, and then rested his forehead in his hand.

"Naruto..." Sasuke murmured. "What were you thinking?" Sasuke asked, trying to still his hands from trembling further, trying so desperately not to dwell on the fact that Naruto may never be a ninja again. Instead, Sasuke put his mind to work on trying to figure out what had been going through Naruto's brain to make him want to attack Sasuke in hopes of his own death.

It didn't take a genius to put the situation together, so Sasuke, as a genius, had put it together very quickly.

Sakura lie dead on Tsunade's medical table. Naruto had attacked him like a raving lunatic, asking Sasuke why he didn't kill him, and then asking Sasuke to kill him.

Naruto thought that _he_ had killed Sakura.

Hurt washed through Sasuke as he realized that Naruto probably had good reason to suspect that he had killed Sakura, but why was he so sure? He hadn't even asked Sasuke if he had! Just assumed. Unless someone had told him differently? Sasuke eyed the medical room out of the corner of his eyes, wondering if Tsunade had said something to Naruto to make him think it was him. But why on earth would she do that?

Now the real question: who had killed Sakura? Whoever it was it had been someone good.

Sasuke closed his eyes, letting the information sink in. He had never wanted Sakura dead. Sakura was one of the few people he had counted close to him. Despite the fact that Sasuke wouldn't have minded if she had never come back to Konoha so he could be with Naruto, Sasuke would never have killed her. That would have hurt Naruto too much. And she was – to an extent – his friend. Obviously they weren't as close since he had purposefully tried to take Naruto from her, but still. If Naruto hadn't been between them, she had been one of the only other people he would have bothered to spend time with.

Still, the question remained, who would want Sakura dead? Who would want Sakura dead and actually had the ability to do it? The thought made him clench his fist. He hated the person, whoever it was. The person had killed a friend – a rival – and had hurt Naruto in the process. Sakura would be avenged for Naruto's sake, Sasuke promised. He was well versed in revenge after all.

These thoughts swirled around in Sasuke's head as he waited for Tsunade or Shizune to reappear to give him an update on Naruto. His thoughts jumped back and forth between the cause of Sakura's death, the possibility that Naruto would not be a shinobi again, and what Naruto had said to him before Naruto's leg had been severed.

_"I love you."_

Sasuke shut his eyes, the words ringing in his ears. How long had he waited for Naruto to say those words to him? How long had he known that Naruto loved him, loved him more than Sakura, only to have Naruto murmur them right before practically committing suicide.

That was something that Sasuke was having trouble wrapping his mind around altogether. Naruto coming after him to help aid in suicide? What on earth had possessed Naruto to do that? It made no sense. Sasuke shook his head. Actually, Sasuke just didn't _want_ it to make sense. When he stopped to think about it, there were "logical" reasons behind Naruto's actions.

Naruto had clearly snapped after Sakura's death and hadn't been thinking. Sasuke knew all too well how much death could make someone go crazy. If someone were to kill Naruto...Sasuke was sure he'd kill not only that person but their family and friends as well. If Naruto had thought he had killed Sakura, the natural reaction would be to come after him. But Naruto wouldn't ever kill him. That much was clear. Naruto didn't want Sasuke dead, which was of very little comfort even as Sasuke realized Naruto would rather die than kill him. However, clearly Naruto would want nothing to do with Sasuke after Sakura's death. Though if he didn't want anything to do with him –

_Ah_. That was it, Sasuke thought bitterly. If Naruto thought he'd killed Sakura, the fact that Naruto would want nothing to do with Sasuke would mean life or death for Naruto. As Sasuke knew only too well, Naruto needed him to live. If Naruto chose not to see Naruto anymore, it would mean suicide for him anyway. Sasuke could imagine that Naruto would rather go down fighting. What stupid, nonsensical logic!

"You're the biggest dumb ass Naruto," Sasuke gritted out angrily.

"Sasuke," Tsunade said, and Sasuke stood up right away, whirling around to face her. His eyes flashed at her dangerously, as though daring her to give him bad news. "We did what we could," Tsunade said, her lips in a tight line. She paused, and Sasuke held his breath. Surely she would look more upset if Naruto had died, so that couldn't be it, right? But clearly there was some unpleasant news.

"And?" Sasuke prompted.

"He won't be quite the same," Tsunade said, her lips tight, clearly unused to being unable to make her patients perfect.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"His leg's wounds were cauterized. The nerve endings were frayed. We couldn't repair them," Tsunade explained. Sasuke's eyes went wide.

"He's legless?" Sasuke breathed. Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Don't be stupid. As if I would have allowed that," Tsunade said, wiping her arm across her forehead to wipe the sweat that was gathered there. "We had to delicately cut off the nerve endings on both parts of the stump and his leg to get to working nerve endings further up his leg." Sasuke nodded, now understanding the blood from earlier. "It took a long time, but we managed to get the nerves reconnected. The bone will take some time to adjust to it's new positioning, but it wasn't splintered. The flesh itself shouldn't be a problem with the Kyuubi's help in healing, but Naruto's right leg will forever be shorter than his left leg, and it will take some time for him to get used to the feel of the spacer connecting the bone," Tsunade said, pursing her lips together. Sasuke waited for more.

"Is that it?" Sasuke asked, after a moment. Tsunade's eyes went wide in anger.

"What do you mean 'is that it?' It means that Naruto will have to relearn everything he was taught in order to compensate for one leg shorter than the other!"

Sasuke waved his hand dismissively.

"Naruto can do that just fine. He'll still be a ninja, and that is all that Naruto needs," Sasuke said. Tsunade still looked livid.

"Well he won't live much longer if you don't help him. He needs his chakra re-balanced," Tsunade clipped. Sasuke swallowed, his mind going numb.

"Now?" Sasuke asked.

"Now," Tsunade confirmed, looking loath to admit that she needed Sasuke's help at all. Sasuke looked to the side, questions assaulting him quickly that it was hard to sort through them all.

"What happened to Sakura?" Sasuke asked, deciding that was important in getting Naruto to want him to help him.

"She died," Tsunade said, and Sasuke was surprised to see the almost lack of care in informing him, as though Sakura's death meant very little to her.

"How?"

"It's under investigation," Tsunade said, seeming harassed.

"Why the hell did Naruto think I'd killed her?"

"How should I know? It doesn't matter right now! Right now Naruto needs to be kept alive, and his chakra is completely out of whack. _Fix it_," Tsunade demanded. Sasuke glared at her, but stepped by her into the medial office where Shizune sat, checking Sakura over. "Shizune get out!" Tsunade barked. Shizune got up and shot a strange look at Sasuke before she left the room.

But Sasuke wasn't paying attention to her. His eyes were locked onto where Naruto lie, his right leg bandaged heavily, his favorite orange jumpsuit torn apart. Sweat glistened off of his skin, and his chest fell and rose in shallow breaths, clearly indicating he was in pain.

"He's asleep," Sasuke said, still standing in the doorway, looking accusatorily at Tsunade for making him responsible for waking Naruto up.

"Yes. Keep it short so he can go back to sleep when you're finished," Tsunade said, slamming the door on her way out. Sasuke glared angrily at the door before he looked over to see if it had made Naruto wake up. It hadn't. Snarling, he locked the door before walking over to Naruto.

Sasuke looked down at Naruto, sighing. He looked around the room, noting how awkward it was to have Sakura's lifeless body so close by when he had to make love to Naruto to help keep him alive when Naruto currently (and unjustly) wanted nothing to do with him.

Feeling horribly disrespectful, though much more worried about Naruto's own welfare for the time being, Sasuke moved the table with Sakura's body on it to the other side of the room from Naruto, and quickly looked about the room to further hide her from view. He noticing there seemed to be ceiling curtain drapes that ran through the center of the room. He pulled those out from where they were tied to the wall, grateful as they seemed to seclude Naruto and him even further from the rest of the room.

Sasuke moved to where Naruto lie spread out, his breath coming a little more evenly than just a few minutes before, but his face was still contorted in pain. Sasuke's hand moved toward Naruto, but his hand stilled before touching his lover. He was certain that Naruto would not want to have sex right now, but he was also certain that Tsunade would not have ordered him to do this to Naruto if Naruto's life were not in immediate danger.

Would it be easier for him to use the sharingan to put him under a genjutsu so that way Naruto didn't have a chance to argue? Sasuke pulled his hand further away from Naruto, disgusted with himself. Things were different now. Naruto knew. There was no way he could force himself on Naruto, even in a life and death situation. Well, at least not before he had consulted Naruto first. He wouldn't let him die, but he would ask him before just screwing Naruto.

"Naruto," Sasuke murmured. When Naruto didn't stir, he said his name louder and shook Naruto's shoulder gently. Naruto's eyes fluttered open; his eyes were unfocused as they landed on Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, wincing in pain as he attempted to sit up. Sasuke kept his hand on Naruto's shoulder, firmly preventing Naruto from moving much.

"Relax. You've just been healed from a major injury," Sasuke explained, wondering how long it would take before Naruto remembered everything.

"I feel so drained," Naruto murmured. "My leg," he groaned, his hand reaching down to his leg. Mid-reach a look of comprehension dawned on Naruto's face as everything came back to him. He started to struggle underneath Sasuke's grasp, and Sasuke had to place his other hand on Naruto's other shoulder to keep him still.

"Stop struggling! You'll only hurt yourself more!" Sasuke said, frantically watching Naruto's body move, hoping that Naruto wasn't upsetting his leg.

"You bastard! You fucking bastard!" Naruto yelled. "I hate you!" Naruto choked out, and the words hurt more than any type of attack that Naruto could have attempted at the height of his strength. Sasuke swallowed, trying to remember how Naruto's voice had sounded when Naruto had said, "I love you" several hours before.

"Stop struggling!" Sasuke demanded, pressing his hands hard against Naruto so that Naruto was pushed hard into the bed, his struggling effectively stopping as the energy left him. He turned his head to the side, his face contorted in rage even while tears began to streak down his face.

"I hate you so much," Naruto whispered harshly. Feeling foolish as he reacted to the words, Sasuke felt weak as tears sprang to his eyes at the amount of pain those words caused. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's chin and forced his face to look at Sasuke.

"I don't know what the fuck your problem is," Sasuke said, his eyes suddenly blurry as they built up tears which threatened to fall from his eyes, "but I didn't kill Sakura. I had no fucking clue what you were trying to do when you came at me, wanting me to kill you. You are such a dumb ass! What the hell was I supposed to think or do you idiot? I had no idea what you were upset about, and now you're lying, a fucking cripple in the hospital for not thinking. Do you have any idea how that felt, watching as you came at me recklessly, wishing for your own death? Do you have any idea how much pain that caused me? Now hurry up and explain yourself!" Sasuke said furiously, tears finally streaming down his face too.

"You didn't-"

"Of course I didn't kill Sakura! I'm not stupid, like you," Sasuke said, his tears coming faster, and he cursed at himself as he wiped his tears on his sleeve. "Do you think I would do something like that to her or to you for that matter?" Sasuke demanded. Naruto closed his eyes.

"I didn't know what to think. Tsunade said it had to be you," Naruto said.

"_What_?!" Sasuke demanded, outraged. "The old hag just told me they were still investigating who had killed Sakura and that she didn't know why you would have thought it was me!"

"Then why did she tell me something different? If it wasn't you then who?" Naruto asked, his voice broken with sorrow.

"Listen dobe, I don't know, ok? I know you're upset. I know you're in pain, but so am I! We'll figure out who killed Sakura. I promise you any type of revenge you want against them. But first, I have to balance your chakra," Sasuke said. Naruto's eyes opened wide.

"What? You mean _now_?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Tsunade-baa-chan just sent me in here to do it. She must not think I'm the killer or she wouldn't have let me in here with you alone," Sasuke said.

"I don't want to," Naruto muttered. "Sakura's dead..."

"You're giving up?" Sasuke asked incredulous. "You, you who promised everyone that you'd be Hokage is going back on his ninja way and is just going to give up now?"

"But Sakura is dead! Why live after-"

_Crack!_

Naruto's eyes were wide with shock, and he weakly moved his hand up to touch his cheek that Sasuke had just slapped.

"Snap out of it! This isn't you at all," Sasuke growled. Naruto glared up at Sasuke, and Sasuke felt a little catch in his throat. There was a spark of life in Naruto's eyes as he looked angrily at Sasuke. "Do I mean so little to you that you want to leave me?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Of course you mean a lot to me bastard! But that hurt!" Naruto growled. He had the decency to blush and looked ashamed of himself before he gasped as Sasuke took out a kunai and began to cut away the rest of Naruto's already ruined pants.

"This will hurt too if you don't hold still," Sasuke warned. Naruto's face paled slightly, both of them remembering how Sasuke had torn Naruto's insides earlier. Had that just happen today? It felt like ages ago. Sasuke looked around him, looking for some sort of lubrication to prevent that from happening. Not to mention the fact that Sasuke would need it to stimulate himself. He was totally and completely not in the mood due to the current situation.

"What are you looking for?" Naruto asked.

"Something to prepare you with," Sasuke said, looking around him.

"Just use your sharingan. Make me feel blissful. Make me forget," Naruto whispered, his eyes drooping. "I don't want to think or feel right now," Naruto murmured. Sasuke turned toward Naruto, his cock finally giving a twitch of life at the idea of taking Naruto without any lube, being able to make Naruto's body move ecstatically, solely controlled by him alone.

"Are you-"

"Yes I'm fucking sure!" Naruto spat out before Sasuke could even ask. Naruto's eyes looked up toward him, and Sasuke had his sharingan activated. Naruto was in a genjutsu before Naruto had a chance to say anything else. Sasuke removed the shreds of clothing around Naruto before positioning him in such a way so that he wouldn't hurt Naruto's leg. Pressing himself to Naruto's entrance, pure bliss crossed Sasuke's features as he could already feel Naruto's heat touching his cock head, seeking his release as he watched Naruto's body for reactions as he thrust inside of Naruto, losing himself in the feeling of being so close to his lover.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he woke up. His mind was groggy and his body felt heavy. It felt like a mix between how just having a long bout of training felt and how falling asleep and waking up only ten or so minutes after he'd had sex with Sasuke felt.

Naruto's eyes widened as his surroundings and his recent memories came back to him.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, looking around him. He noted that he was in what looked like the back of the medical room in Tsunade's medical office. "Sasuke?" Naruto tried again. A loud crash made him turn his head to the left toward the wall the separated him from the Hokage's office.

"How could you do it? How could you be the one to kill Sakura? You should die!"

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard Sasuke's muffled yells. Sakura's killer was in the Hokage's office? Another loud crash, and Naruto sat upright as he realized that Sasuke must be fighting whoever it was that had murdered Sakura. Naruto snarled as he sat to reposition himself.

"How could you kill her Tsunade?" Sasuke's muffled voice came.

Several things happened all at once after that.

Naruto stopped adjusting himself in pure shock as Sasuke accused Tsunade of Sakura's death. He lost his balance and fell to the floor. Naruto's body landed heavily, his head bashing against the cold, hard tiled floor. He lost consciousness immediately, completely unaware of the sound of shattering glass in the other room as Sasuke was thrown like a rag doll through the large window of the Hokage office, pummeling hundreds of feet to the ground below.

**Next Chapter: Revenge**

* * *

:runs away from angry readers on a semi-healed foot: For those of you who are curious, Naruto's leg wound was totally inspired due to my inability to walk without crutches. My foot still hurts, but the gaping wound on the bottom of my foot has shrunk, though it looks infected. T-T

For those who are interested, I posted a oneshot called Lacking. If you'd like to see it expanded into a multi-chaptered fic (with the rating raised from T to M) then see my Fanfiction dot Net profile and review and vote. Thanks for those who already have.

Let me know what you thought of this chapter! - Jelp


	15. Chapter 15: Revenge

Sorry this is late. I had trouble with writing it and I'm still not sure if I'm satisfied with it. My slave driver, er, I mean, friend lL0tus said she liked it. Hopefully you all like it too.

**Mine**

**Chapter 15: Revenge**

Sasuke adjusted his pants back on properly, feeling sated after his impromptu "need" to balance Naruto's chakra. He sighed contently, watching Naruto. His eyes were glazed over from the genjutsu that he was still experiencing. Naruto had said that he wasn't really in the mood to have sex, so Sasuke had created an illusion for him that would be more relaxing, and Sasuke decided to leave Naruto in the illusion as long as possible. The illusion merely projected Sasuke giving Naruto a full body massage, something that would stimulate his body, and hopefully relax him at the same time.

After Sasuke had finished straightening his clothes, he also readjusted Naruto's clothing. Sasuke double-checked over Naruto's body, making sure that his one-sided lovemaking hadn't hurt Naruto any more than he already had today. He shook his head, frowning. Today had been strange. And long. It felt never ending.

Sasuke placed his hands together forming the ram seal.

"Neiri no Jutsu," Sasuke whispered as he removed the genjutsu and forced Naruto into a light sleep. Sasuke placed his hand gently on top of Naruto's head and smiled slightly. He remembered Naruto once asking if Sasuke knew how to do the force sleep technique like Gaara. He had asked back before Naruto and Sakura had even started dating. Sasuke had explained that "Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu" wasn't very useful to learn unless the user wanted to put himself to sleep like Gaara. Sasuke had gone on to explain that "Neiri no Jutsu" was more effective for a ninja's arsenal of different types of jutsu. Naruto had asked Sasuke to show him how to do it, and Sasuke had merely smirked, performed the jutsu, and promptly put Naruto to sleep with it.

What had Naruto expected? How else would Sasuke have shown Naruto the jutsu unless to use it on Naruto? Sometimes Sasuke truly wondered at Naruto's intelligence and his thought process. Sasuke's slight smile turned into a frown as he thought about today. He was still trying to work out why Naruto would become suicidal. It was ridiculous, unheard of for Naruto. And it made Sasuke's heart ache that Naruto would want to leave him.

Yet Naruto had apparently thought that he had good reason. Naruto had said that Tsunade had told him that Sasuke was Sakura's murderer. Why would Tsunade do such a thing? What proof did she have? He hadn't done it! Sasuke needed to find who had killed Sakura so that way Naruto would not need to worry about it. After all, revenge was more Sasuke's forte than Naruto's.

Sasuke checked over Naruto once again, making sure that Naruto was truly asleep. He knew that Naruto could wake up very easily under the jutsu instead of actually allowing Naruto's body to fall asleep on its own, and he feared Naruto might wake up before Sasuke had any answers to help ease Naruto's emotional pain. Sasuke was sure that Tsunade must have given Naruto some sort of pain medication, and that should be working now, but Sasuke doubted that Naruto would have been able to sleep with all his emotional pain.

Naruto looked so peaceful as he slept. Sasuke's hand gently played with Naruto's hair before he withdrew his hand and exited from behind the makeshift private "room." It had done the trick. Naruto hadn't been able to see Sakura, and Sasuke hoped that he would get some answers for Naruto about his Sakura's death before he awoke.

Glancing at Sakura's body once more before he left the room, Sasuke entered into Tsunade's office, shutting the door quietly behind him.

"He's sleeping," Sasuke said. Tsunade didn't respond to him immediately. Tsunade sat behind her desk as she filled out some paperwork. Shizune stood nearby looking extremely nervous.

"Good," Tsunade said, finally turning her head to respond to Sasuke's statement.

"Naruto told me that you said that I killed Sakura," Sasuke said angrily, getting right to the point. Tsunade looked like she was about to say something but Sasuke cut her off, continuing. "First of all, I did _not_ kill Sakura. We may have had lots of disagreements in the past, but that doesn't mean that I would kill her. She was my former teammate after all, and I would never do something like that to hurt Naruto." Tsunade looked at him skeptically, and Sasuke wondered if he should have chosen his words differently as he had at one point and time almost killed Naruto. He had changed though!

"I know it wasn't you-"

"Then why the hell did you tell Naruto it was me?" Sasuke demanded.

"I didn't!" Tsunade said, rising from her chair.

"Naruto said you-"

"That wasn't me who told him. Someone else changed into a henge of me and then told Naruto you had killed her," Tsunade said. Sasuke didn't know what to say to that revelation.

"What?" Sasuke asked breathlessly. "You mean someone else knows of Sakura's death and blamed me? Why on earth would someone do that? And who did it?"

Tsunade didn't say anything. She sat back down at her seat and continued to finish writing at her desk. Sasuke pressed his lips together, hoping Tsunade was merely thinking, and not ignoring him, but he wasn't patient and he wanted her to talk to him. Shizune moved slightly, the movement catching Sasuke's attention. He turned his head to look at her, noticing for the first time that she seemed more than nervous. She seemed fearful. Cocking his head to the side, he glanced between Tsunade and Shizune.

"No one else has been informed of Sakura's death," Sasuke said slowly. It wasn't a question. Clearly no one else knew. That wasn't right. This entire situation wasn't right. "Why hasn't anyone else been informed? And if anyone else hasn't been informed, who pretended to be you?" Sasuke asked slowly.

"People will be informed. I'm writing up a report now," Tsunade snapped. "Be patient."

Sasuke fumed. It was clear to him that something wasn't right about the situation, and Tsunade's behavior was telling him that what he was missing was obvious. He cursed at himself when it finally clicked in his head what was wrong with the situation.

"Why aren't you upset about Sakura's death?" Sasuke asked Tsunade, his voice deathly quiet. He knew that he was not mourning Sakura's death openly, but he was still showing more concern over what had happened to her than Tsunade was. Even Shizune seemed to care more about Sakura's death.

"The need to secure Naruto's safety came first, wearing off the shock and pain," Tsunade said, just as quietly. Sasuke could tell there was truth to her words, but the way she said what she had made Sasuke wonder nonetheless.

"What are you doing about the security breech?" Sasuke asked.

"Security breech?" Tsunade repeated, clearly confused.

"Yes. Clearly there must have been a security breech if someone impersonated you and told Naruto about Sakura's death and that I killed her. Who impersonated you?" Sasuke demanded. Tsunade frowned, pressing her lips together. She looked thoughtful for a moment. Sasuke idly wondered if perhaps Naruto had run into the Tsunade imposter elsewhere, but as Tsunade had seemed to know about it, he assumed that she must have been aware of it. He watched as Tsunade's eyes flickered over to Shizune. Shizune looked at Tsunade before lowering her eyes.

Sasuke looked back and forth between the two women. The look they had shared had been quick, but Sasuke had seen the implications in it anyway. He turned toward the dark-haired assistant.

"You impersonated Tsunade, didn't you?" Sasuke growled angrily at Shizune. Shizune merely looked at him, her eyes sad.

"I didn't know what to do," Shizune mumbled. If Sasuke hadn't been so enraged at the fact that her lie had made Naruto hurt himself, he might have actually understood where she was coming from. It was always easier for someone to hear that they had an answer to how a person died, and even better when there was someone to blame. Sasuke knew from personal experience that it had been easier for him to hate Itachi than to feel the sadness of his family's death.

Shizune telling Naruto that it was Sasuke who had killed her was a way to at least alleviate Naruto's doubts about Sakura's death, and it also acted as an emotional diversion by keeping Naruto angry at him for supposedly killing Sakura instead of sad and depressed about her death. Though Sasuke hated to admit it, for those few who knew what he had done in order to keep Naruto alive the past few years, and then the lengths he had gone to keep Naruto for himself, Sasuke seemed the likeliest candidate as the person with the most probable motive to want Sakura dead and out of the picture.

"How could you jump to a conclusion like that without detaining me first? Didn't you even stop to think if that had been the case the threat I could have posed to Naruto? That put Naruto at risk!" Sasuke was outraged. If she had truly suspected him, her first priority should have been to capture him. Clearly she didn't find him a threat, at least not now, because neither she nor Tsunade had made any moves to try and subdue him, nor had they made any outright accusations at him. "Blaming me unnecessarily not only caused Naruto to hurt himself, but it has lost us valuable time we could have used to figure out who actually killed Sakura! Your oversight has hurt our overall chances of bringing Sakura's killer to justice as soon as possible!" Sasuke snarled angrily.

Shizune looked extremely pained, his words clearly having an affect on her. She seemed almost close to tears. Her reaction surprised Sasuke. Shizune was acting as though she really felt sorry for not doing her job in order to find Sakura's killer as soon as possible.

"Yelling at her will get you no where," Tsunade said to Sasuke. He looked over to where she sat her desk. She was right. Yelling at Shizune, as much as it felt good to get his anger out, would only delay finding out who had killed Sakura. He was about to ask Tsunade what she knew, but she was no longer looking at him, her hand sweeping across a sheet of paper, writing the report up. Hopefully what she wrote would help the shinobi assigned to find Sakura's killer. And of course, he would request to be put on the team that went in search of the murderer.

Tsunade looked tired, and he didn't blame her. She'd just spent several hours making sure that Naruto was okay. He actually bad for saying she didn't look upset about Sakura's death; she did seem drained.

During Sasuke's musings, Tsunade had finished her report as she began to fold up the paper on her desk. She opened a desk drawer and fished through some papers before Sasuke saw her pull out an envelope. Once again something about Tsunade's actions seemed off to him. Mission reports didn't need to be sealed in envelopes. Even if they were top secret, standard mission procedure clearly dictated that top-secret reports were to either be coded or to be written and sealed in a _scroll_ as per security standards.

Sasuke figured that Tsunade was probably just tired and that's why all of her actions seemed off. Hoping to try and at least save herself the trouble of having to take the report out of the envelope, Sasuke decided to inform her of her error in a gentle manner to make up for how snappish he had been to her. (That, and in her tired state, Sasuke idly wondered if she would just snap in a fit of rage if he crossed her any more.)

"Do you want me to file that mission report? No need for the envelope," Sasuke said, trying to nonchalantly let her know she was making a procedural error. Tsunade looked at him skeptically.

"It's not like you to sound so nice. And this is a special kind of mission report," Tsunade clipped. Sasuke just glared at her. See if he was ever nice to her again.

"What are you going to do about Sakura's killer?"

"You're jumping to conclusions as though Sakura's death was murder," Tsunade said. "As I told you before, her death is under investigation. As of right now, it appears that her death may have been suicide," Tsunade said quietly.

Sasuke was stunned at this revelation. The gasp Shizune gave indicated this was news to her as well.

"Suicide? What? Why?" Sasuke asked. Tsunade banged her hands on the table and glared at him.

"We don't know why, you little twit, that's why it's under investigation!" Tsunade yelled angrily.

_THUD. THUD. THUD. CRASH!_

Sasuke, Tsunade, and Shizune all turned their heads as one as they heard the thuds and proceeding crash resound from the room next to them.

"Naruto," Sasuke breathed, closer to the room than either of the other two. He ran into the room and flung back the curtain he had placed around Naruto earlier for privacy.

Naruto's mouth hung open, a snore rumbling from him. Sasuke frowned, looking at Naruto. Naruto's right arm was hanging off the bed near the end of a small table with various medical equipment and whatnot sprawled out across the floor. Sasuke could only assume that Naruto had flung his hand out and he had knocked several things over.

"He just knocked some things over," Sasuke said quietly as he felt Tsunade and Shizune approach from behind.

"Indeed. He must be exhausted if that didn't wake him," Tsunade said as she and Shizune began to pick up the fallen items that Naruto had knocked down. Watching as Shizune and Tsunade quietly reorganized the items, Sasuke silently walked back towards the door, making it look like he was going to exit the room. He kept his eyes on Tsunade and Shizune as they tried to make as little noise as possible to prevent Naruto from waking up. He thought they were being unnecessarily quiet, as the crash hadn't woken Naruto up. Sasuke was being silent too, but he did so to avoid the other two in the room from seeing what he was doing.

Sasuke turned to look at Sakura's body, carefully examining her outward appearance. She seemed to have been dead for some time, as indicated by the slight smell of bodily decay barely masked by a strong disinfectant aroma. Sasuke's eyes darted along her body, and she didn't seem to have any noticeable bodily alterations. Perhaps she'd been killed with poison. That certainly would give Tsunade cause to believe that she committed suicide. Yet that didn't make sense to Sasuke at all. Sakura didn't seem the type. Tsunade had been informed that Sakura was coming back to Konoha, and she had even told Naruto. Why would Sakura commit suicide if she had intentions to return?

No, suicide didn't seem likely. Besides, Shizune, at least, had told Naruto that Sasuke had killed her. Why she would choose him to take the blame he had a few suspicions, but it was likely that Shizune suspected foul play. She had probably examined Sakura already, which meant she might know the cause of death. Sasuke also had a feeling that even Naruto, who was so easily moved by words, would need some sort of proof to believe that Sasuke had killed Sakura.

Shooting another glance at Tsunade and Shizune, Sasuke turned his eyes back to Sakura, noticing the strange way in which her hair was swept to the right side of her neck. Shizune had been looking at that area earlier.

And then Sasuke saw it. Sasuke could just see the edges of discoloration that indicated there was a wound to the back of Sakura's head. It looked like it had been cleaned, but the way that the wound hadn't healed normally clearly indicated that she had either already been dead at the time the wound was inflicted, or that it had been the cause of death.

Shooting another glance at the two women in the room, he finally exited and returned to the Hokage's office, waiting for them to come out into the room so he could discuss Sakura's death with them.

They had lied to him, he was sure of it. A wound like that could _not_ have been self-inflicted upon Sakura. There was no way that suicide had played a part in Sakura's death: her wound was plenty proof enough that someone had killed her.

Yet why would Tsunade lie to him? Why all the secrecy? Why had Shizune said it was Sasuke? _Why?_

Sasuke paced in the room, waiting for them to re-enter, his thoughts a whirl. The only explanation that could come to Sasuke's mind was something unthinkable. The only possible reasoning that Sasuke could think would cause them to lie to him, for them to be so secretive led Sasuke to one conclusion, one that made him hope he was wrong.

One of them had killed her.

Sasuke was fairly certain that Shizune was no match for Sakura when it came to a one on one fight. She also seemed to be more concerned about covering up who had truly killed Sakura. That ruled Shizune out.

Which meant that Tsunade had killed Sakura.

Connecting the dots, it made sense to a point, but he couldn't establish a probable motive, though other indicators were present. For starters, Tsunade hadn't seemed upset that Sakura was dead. She seemed reluctant to answer his questions about her death. Shizune had apparently impersonated Tsunade and told Naruto that Sasuke had killed Sakura. Shizune was therefore looking out for Tsunade, but Tsunade seemed a bit upset about it. Had Shizune acted without instructions?

Sasuke watched the door, pacing more frantically back and forth. He tried to will his mind to find another solution to this puzzle, but he couldn't think of any. And what was taking Tsunade and Shizune so long to just rearrange some silly things that had fallen? Tsunade wouldn't hurt Naruto would she? But she had seemingly killed Sakura so did that mean she was capable of wanting to hurt Naruto? No. She'd just spent hours trying to repair his leg. Yet what reason did she have to kill Sakura?

That was the part that wasn't making sense. Tsunade would never kill Sakura unless she had to, unless Sakura had become a threat.

Sasuke's hands were shaking, his mind in a whirl. There were so many questions, so many what ifs that when Tsunade and Shizune finally emerged from the adjacent room that he picked up a chair and threw it across the room in his anger and frustration.

The loud crash made Shizune and Tsunade freeze in their tracks and both of them looked at him as though he had gone crazy.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tsunade asked taking deep strides to come close to Sasuke, waving her finger angrily in his face.

"Did you kill Sakura?" Sasuke snarled, his voice dangerously quiet. Tsunade's eyes widened, her shock plainly evident on her face. Sasuke didn't even need to hear her next words to confirm his suspicions as her reaction told him everything.

"It was a sad necessity," Tsunade said, her voice hard and cold. Sasuke saw Shizune give a frightened look between Sasuke and Tsunade, but Sasuke only barely noticed her.

"Necessity?" Sasuke hissed. "_Necessity?_" he repeated incredulous at the indifferent tone that Tsunade used.

"It is unfortunate," Tsunade said, though she didn't sound at all regretful.

"How could you do it? How could you be the one to kill Sakura? You should die!" Sasuke yelled angrily, his entire being filled with rage. He didn't understand how a master could kill off her apprentice without so much as a hint of regret. It was disgusting.

"I should die?" Tsunade asked incredulously, her voice much quieter than Sasuke's. "You don't know what you're talking about. Calm down Sasuke," Tsunade said coolly. Sasuke couldn't believe his ears. Why was Tsunade acting so calmly? Had she gone insane?

"Are you insane? How could you kill her Tsunade?!" Sasuke demanded, his voice rising in his anger. Tsunade was about to respond when there was a loud crash in the room next to them. Sasuke turned his attention toward the noise.

The next thing Sasuke knew, he felt hands on his shirt as incredible strength sent him soaring across the room. He barely managed to cover his head as he smashed into the window. It shattered upon his impact, and Sasuke screamed in pain as he felt broken shards of glass digging into his exposed flesh.

He grunted as his left shoulder banged heavily upon the roof that was a waist's length below the Hokage's window. His body rolled along the roof that he had often climbed on to reach the Hokage office from her window rather than the door, and he was grateful for its existence.

Sasuke flung out his hand, chakra already concentrated to his hand as he flung it toward the roof to help prevent him from falling.

It slowed his fall but only for an instant. His hand recoiled in shocked pain as he felt shards of glass enter his palm. His body instinctively jerked away from the cause of the pain. Sasuke went to put his hand out again, knowing to ignore the pain in order to override his instincts, but as he thrust out his hand, his chakra filled palm was met with air as he fell off the room, his body thrown into free fall.

Time seemed to slow as he twisted his body in midair, glass shards falling with him as he fell. Sasuke managed to twist in the necessary position his body needed to be in, grateful that he was a shinobi as a lesser man may have been killed by such a fall.

"Ugh," Sasuke grunted upon landing in a crouched position upon the hard pavement. His feet slipped on the shards of glass that had landed before him, and he could feel the prick of more glass where his hands had braced himself from the slip.

Sasuke took a deep breath, steadying himself, mentally checking over to feel if anything was broken. Nothing felt out of place from the fall, but he could feel the blood flowing from his scraped hands and from where the glass had embedded into the side of his neck. He reached up and pulled a few pieces from his neck, wincing. They hadn't gone in very deep, but they stung like hell.

Standing up, he shook his body, letting the small fragments of window fall from his clothing, clinking to the ground.

"Damn it," Sasuke cursed as he ran from the Hokage tower, knowing that people would need to be alerted that Tsunade had lost it. He had to make sure they were people that were friends with Naruto, and would do anything, even go against Tsunade, if it meant making sure that nothing else happened to him. They would need to be people that would be angered at Sakura's death more than he had been and almost as much as Naruto had been.

Sasuke left to find them quickly, knowing he didn't have much time, idly cursing himself that he had isolated himself from most other shinobi except for Naruto.

* * *

"He rolled off the roof," Shizune said sounding worried as she looked out the window. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to see the ground below the roof that jutted out from beneath the roof, but she still was unable to see the ground below.

"He's a shinobi, he'll land fine," Tsunade said, unconcerned with Sasuke's care. "We need to get out of here now," Tsunade told Shizune.

"Tsunade-sama, we can't run from this! You're the Hokage. We-"

"Then you stay, and I will leave. I killed a former subordinate without any justifiable cause. I will be tried, found guilty, and stripped of my title."

"Tsunade-sama, you can't just leave-"

"Of course I can. Though you should to stay. You've done nothing that can't be explained away as trying to bide more time to see if I was the killer. Everything is in my report anyway. I've named Naruto as my successor as Hokage," Tsunade said, as she began to rummage around in the drawers of her desk, pulling out a knapsack and shoved several items into it.

"Have you lost your mind?" Shizune asked. Tsunade ignored the question.

"Sasuke will probably be coming back in here, and he may bring others. You need to inform them of what happened. Stay here. Goodbye Shizune," Tsunade said as she leapt out the gaping whole in the window. Shizune yelled out for her to stay even as Tsunade slid gracefully along the rooftop below the window, using the glass to make her high-heeled shoes slide easily across the surface. She gave a graceful leap from the end of the roof to the next closest roof. Shizune watched as Tsunade got smaller and smaller as she jumped to further and further rooftops.

Tsunade was well out of sight by the time Sasuke and three others came filing into the room, even if it was only a few minutes later. Sasuke had lost no time in rounding up the people he thought he needed help from.

"Sakura's body is in there!" Sasuke said, as he pointed to the adjacent medical room. Three shinobi ran into the room, shinobi that took Shizune a moment to recognize as Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai. Sasuke didn't bother to follow them as he had already seen the proof.

Shizune merely stood where she was, her nervous expression finally turning into that of a trained shinobi, completely devoid of emotion.

"Where's Tsunade?!" Sasuke bellowed at Shizune.

"She ran," Shizune said, not bothering to lie. Things were getting way out of hand, and she wasn't sure what to do anymore. She figured the truth was best.

"Naruto's also been hurt!" Kakashi's voice called from the room.

"His leg was damaged. He should be okay," Sasuke called, not removing his gaze from Shizune.

"He seems to have fallen and hit his head. It's bleeding." This time Sasuke did turn his head in worry. With being thrown out the window, he had forgotten about the noise in the other room that had distracted his attention away from Tsunade.

"What?" Shizune asked, worriedly. She began to move, and Sasuke looked at her, not sure if he wanted to trust her entering the room with Naruto. She had caused a lot of damage, but she also seemed like she was at a loss for what had really been going on. Shizune had stayed, which said something about her character, but what exactly he wasn't sure. He didn't stop her as she walked past him into the medical room, clearly intent on helping a patient. She was a doctor, and he had a feeling her doctoral instincts told her she should help Naruto. Sasuke followed, anxious to see if Naruto was okay.

"I'm hardly in Konoha any more, and when I do come back, something strange is always going on," Kakashi murmured. Sasuke turned to look at him as he walked over to where Sakura's body lie on the table. Sasuke looked at Naruto even as he responded to Kakashi.

"A lot has been going on the past few years," Sasuke said, his voice quiet. In all honesty, he hadn't seen much of Kakashi in a long time, and it had been a bit strange when he had hastily found and informed Kakashi that Tsunade had apparently killed Sakura. Kakashi had seemed surprised, but he had had the sense not to argue and follow Sasuke to see if he was right.

Sasuke looked around, watching the scene as though from a distance. He'd practically shut himself off from the rest of the shinobi world except for missions with Naruto, and he felt as though he ought to say something more to the others in the room. He faintly recalled that the last time that Kakashi had made an attempt to contact him was years ago when he had offered to spar with Sasuke during his six-month probation period. Of course, Sasuke had not let anyone spar with him, not even Naruto for a time. That had been before Tsunade had called him into her office and given him the most bizarre mission he had ever heard of in order to save Naruto's life. Even so, Kakashi hadn't questioned him when he had asked him for his help today. Going to Yamato and Sai had been easy with Kakashi helping to round them up.

Kakashi didn't seem at all perturbed with Sasuke, and he was grateful. Sasuke knew that Naruto still kept in contact with most everyone. He, on the other hand, seemed to think of Naruto, and Naruto alone in his world. Other people seemed to fade away as long as he had Naruto.

"What happened to Sakura and Naruto too?" Kakashi asked Sasuke. Before Sasuke responded, Shizune answered.

"Tsunade-sama wrote a letter explaining everything," Shizune said, her hands alight with chakra as she began to heal Naruto's injury. Kakashi turned and left the room, clearly intent to retrieve the letter.

"Is Naruto okay?" Sasuke asked, anxiously. He knew that Naruto had a hard head and that it surely wasn't life threatening as it had stopped bleeding even before he'd come into the room, but he couldn't help but ask.

"His head's fine, but as head wounds always bleed a bit, I wanted to make sure he was okay since he has already lost a fair amount of blood," Shizune explained.

"He wouldn't have lost any blood if you'd just told him the truth," Sasuke accused angrily. Shizune stiffened at the comment but didn't say anything.

"We don't have much time for this. You asked us here to help deal with Tsunade, and she clearly is not here. We need to track Tsunade before she gets too far away," Kakashi said, interrupting any argument Sasuke may have tried to start with Shizune. Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out a rolled up scroll. He placed it in his hands, making a few hand signs before he unrolled the scroll, a pack of dogs appearing before him.

"Wait – no!" Shizune said. "Don't track her. Please," Shizune said.

"Shizune, something is not right with Tsunade. Sakura's death proves that. She's a danger to herself just as much as she is a danger to others. What Tsunade explains in her letter seems outrageous, and it has me wondering at her sanity," Kakashi said, his voice more clipped than usual.

"There were circumstances behind Sakura's death," Shizune said, and she turned her eyes to Sasuke. Sasuke merely returned her look.

"I just read the letter. The reasoning leads me to believe that our Hokage's mental stability has left her," Yamato said, stepping in, obviously agreeing with Kakashi.

"Follow Tsunade's scent," Kakashi ordered his dogs as he indicated that they should sniff the Hokage's chair for her scent. Within moments the dogs had gotten her scent and jumped through the window. "Yamato, stay here with Naruto and Shizune, but send one of your clone's with us so we can inform you of what is going on. The less people that know about the situation the better. We need to find Tsunade. If things are not sorted out, and Tsunade is not here when people learn of what she has done, well, we need to be the ones to find her, not anyone else..." Kakashi shook his head. "Sai, Sasuke, come with me," Kakashi said as he jumped out the window. Sai followed behind him. Within seconds, Yamato had created a clone that followed next.

Sasuke felt a slight ripple of guilt at the entire situation. It was easy to blame Tsunade and Shizune, but if he had just told Naruto how he felt all those years ago, Sakura would never have married Naruto since Naruto returned his feelings. Sakura would never have angered Tsunade so much that she attempted to hurt her and flee Konoha a year ago-

Sasuke inwardly groaned. How could he have forgotten that? Sasuke wondered if perhaps Tsunade had held a grudge against her former protégé for the attempt on her life. _That_ would be a good reason for probable cause. Sasuke understood how the desire for revenge could build up over time.

There were so much that Sasuke didn't want to think about that kept popping up in his mind. The only thing that he focused on as he made to follow Kakashi and Sai was that too many people would question the validity of just a letter left as Tsunade fled her position of Hokage, indicating she wanted Naruto to be successor. Some people wouldn't believe that without her verbal consent. Sasuke just hoped she didn't do anything foolish before they found her.

* * *

"Naruto! Naruto! Wake-up!"

Naruto only distantly heard his name, as though someone were calling him from far away. He suddenly felt a light shaking to his shoulder, and realized that someone was trying to wake him.

"Wake-up!"

Naruto groaned, waking up feeling groggy, yet again. His head hurt and so did his leg. This time his memories came back to him quickly. Too quickly for his liking. He sat up, his head spinning slightly.

"Take it easy," Yamato said gently.

"Yamato-taichou!" Naruto said as turned his head in surprised, wincing at the pain the movement caused. "What are you doing here?"

"Waking you up. Sasuke, Sai, and Kakashi-senpai are detaining Tsunade-sama. They need your help," Yamato said quietly.

"Did she really kill Sakura?" Naruto asked quietly. Yamato was quiet for a moment.

"It seems that way. You've been unconscious for some time. Tsunade left, and they caught her, but things didn't go so well. We need you right away," Yamato informed quietly as he grasped Naruto's arm, and helped Naruto get down from the medical table he was on. Naruto was only half aware the Shizune was there, looking at Yamato uncertainly.

"What happened?" Naruto asked with his voice filled with dread. He gasped in shock as his feet hit the ground. His leg didn't hurt any more, but his right leg felt like it had sunk too far to the ground, his left leg buckling at the unexpected sensation of being so off-balance. Yamato either didn't notice, or thought it not important enough to mention. He picked up his pace as he ran down the hall, his hand still on Naruto's arm. Naruto winced at the discomfort he felt in his leg as he ran. Yamato gave a brief description of the skirmish between Kakashi, Sai, Sasuke, and Tsunade, leading Naruto downward through the Hokage Tower. Shizune followed, looking concerned.

Naruto realized that Yamato was leading him down toward the holding cells of the Hokage Tower.

"Tsunade didn't want to come back. They managed to get her unconscious – though Sai's arm is broken as a result – and brought her back here. She just started to wake up when they got her in a cell. And, well, this is what's happening since I dispelled my clone," Yamato said, his voice trailing off slightly as he and Naruto entered the detainment cell.

"Is she okay?" Shizune finally asked, concerned.

Naruto gasped, taking in the picture before him. In the cell Tsunade stood against a wall, her hand clutching a kunai that pointed at her own throat. A dark-red tag was attached to the kunai, indicating that it would discharge poison through the blade upon impact.

Sasuke stood with his blade pressed not against Tsunade's throat, but rather her hand and the kunai, the slight angle of his body indicating that he was preventing her from hurting herself. Naruto saw Sai and Kakashi standing at the edges of the cell, and he wondered why they weren't trying to help.

"She said she wouldn't do anything until she had spoken with you," Kakashi said, as though reading Naruto's questioning gaze.

"I'm not taking any chances though," Sasuke said.

"Naruto," Tsunade said, her eyes landing on him, her face more calm than he had seen in a long time. "It's time for me to die. I killed Sakura, don't you want me gone?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto opened his mouth, not sure what to think. He brain was still trying to process the fact that Tsunade had been Sakura's killer. He felt a twinge of guilt as he realized it had been easier accepting Sasuke as her killer.

"Tsunade-sama, what are you saying?" Shizune said, tears dreaming down her face.

"She's talking madness. Clearly she's not well," Sai said quietly. "I read it from a book. Her symptoms are obvious that you've snapped."

"You're not well," Naruto agreed as he looked at Tsunade, not even understanding what the words meant, but feeling that something was not right with Tsunade, though he hadn't read that in a book. "You would never hurt Sakura. Even after she hurt you, you would never...something's not right. It doesn't make sense," Naruto said, his voice pleading.

"You can bring her back right now," Tsunade murmured, her hand clutching the kunai. The tag attached to it seemed to flitter with no breeze present in the room, the black of the forbidden ink writing contrasted against the white rice paper backed with the thicker dark red paper outlining its edges. Shizune looked appalled at Tsunade's words.

"Bring her back, what do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"By her, I mean Sakura, and by bringing her back, I mean I could bring her back to life. My life for hers," Tsunade said. A wave of understanding seemed to ripple through the room at what Tsunade was implying. The forbidden technique that required a human body in exchange to revive a person from the dead. It was unthinkable to do, and she didn't even know how to do it – did she?

"Do you even know how?" Naruto asked quietly. Sasuke turned to him, looking slightly shocked. Sasuke wouldn't have expected Naruto to ever consider such a possibility. It made his chest tighten to think that Naruto would want Sakura so back to pull Sakura back from the dead via Tsunade's body.

"Yes, I know how to," Tsunade murmured. "I didn't realize you'd miss her so badly. I didn't realize that you weren't happy," Tsunade said, her eyes darting over to Sasuke, as though implying Sasuke couldn't keep Naruto happy.

"What do you want Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his sword pressed firmly against Tsunade's hand.

"My body type is just the same size as hers. It's even used to the same techniques. I trained her after all," Tsunade offered, tears streaming down her face. The tears contrasted with the set look she held. "Isn't it about time I went to them? Back to my Dan. To my little brother Nawaki, and my comrades."

"It certainly would avenge Sakura's death," Sasuke murmured. Naruto looked at Sasuke and Tsunade, and then turned to look at Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato, the three clearly not sure what was going on, but not willing to butt into the conversation. Shizune was sobbing quietly.

Naruto lowered his head, wiping at the tears that suddenly sprang to his eyes, feeling that this was all his fault somehow.

Naruto turned his face up, his breath catching with the sudden sobs that shook through his body.

And at last, Naruto knew what he wanted.

**Next Part: Epilogue**

* * *

The Epilogue is almost complete and will most likely be out Sunday or Monday. Wow...the Epilogue. It's almost over. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! - Jelp


	16. Epilogue: Insanely Happy

READ THE ENTIRE ENDING BEFORE MAKING ASSUMPTIONS.

**Epilogue: Insanely Happy**

Sakura lied back with her arms outstretched behind her head. The sky was a clear crisp blue, and Sakura was out enjoying the nice weather. She wasn't the only one outside either.

"Mama!" Sakura turned as she watched her youngest waddle over to her. Her youngest son, now two, still had some baby fat around his cheeks that begged to be pinched due to their cuteness. "Mama!" he said again, holding out his hands.

"What do you have here, hmm?" Sakura asked happily, grasping him around the waist and plopping him in her lap. She pinched his cheek affectionately, watching the little black-haired boy giggle at his mother's pinch before he turned his beautiful blue eyes back down to look at what was in his hand.

"A ladybug," he said. His green eyes that mirrored her own looked back up at her, waiting for a confirmation to his find.

"Very good, Ruki" she said, kissing his head softly.

"Sakura!" Sakura turned around upon hearing her name being called, watching as her husband and her youngest daughter came into view. Rai, her daughter, was perched atop her father's shoulder looking utterly happy with a wide bouquet of flowers in her hands.

"I found Mama a ladybug," Ruki said happily, holding the bug up for his father and youngest sister to see.

"Sakura, Rai and I picked the most beautiful flowers for you," her husband said. Sakura smiled as Rai leaned down from atop her father's shoulders to hand her mother the flowers. A giggle escaped Sakura's mouth as she saw a white petal from the flowers had fallen into her husband's hair, contrasting with its ebony dark locks.

"You look good with flowers in your hair Sasuke," Sakura said, smiling widely at her beloved Sasuke. He chuckled warmly.

"Do I really have a flower petal in my hair?" Sasuke asked, looking affectionately up at his daughter. Ruki giggled.

"It does look good!" Rai said, giggling happily.

"Are you making fun of me?" Sasuke teasingly asked, his eyes going wide. Ruki shook her head no but Sasuke had gripped her waist and pulled her down and began to tickle her. She began to laugh loudly, trying to ward off her father's tickling. "Maybe I ought to put some flowers in your hair, hmm?" Sasuke asked as he began to affectionately tussled Rai's blonde hair.

"Sakuraaaaaa-chaaaaaaaaaaan!"

Sakura turned, her eyes lighting up with delight as she watched her Naruto, the more beloved of her two husbands run towards her. He came bounding up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist before pulling her into the air, his body flush against hers as he gave her a firm, loving kiss before setting her back down again.

"I win!" Naruto declared as the rest of their children came running up behind him, four sets sweaty hair – colors varying from pink, blonde, to black – plastered to their faces with sweat.

"That was so much fun!" Isai, the eldest said as he caught his breath, sitting down on the ground.

"Dad said he'd get to Mom first! And he did. It was a good race though," Nari said as she sat on the grass next to her big brother.

Sakura smiled widely, watching all six of her children and her two husbands gathered around her.

Everything was so perfect. It felt like Heaven.

Good thing too, since it was.

* * *

"Dan! My beloved Dan," Tsunade murmured, her mouth twisted in an insanely happy smile as she reached out toward him. Oh, but her arms were so weak from the excitement from seeing him that she couldn't move. It didn't matter. Dan would come to her. And he did!

"Tsunade," Dan murmured as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," Tsunade whispered back.

"Nee-chan!" Tsunade turned to look to see her little brother running toward him. She'd have reached her arms out to him too, but Dan was hugging her, and she didn't want to move from him. Still, she smiled widely when her little brother, Nawaki, came and hugged her too.

"Nawaki!" Tsunade exclaimed.

"Sis, I've missed you! I heard you were Hokage! I'm so jealous. You musta had to remember everything I told you I was gonna do to be a good Hokage, right?" Nawaki said, grinning widely, just like she remembered him grinning, just like Naruto always grinned.

"Ah, my love," Dan said again as he kissed the top of her head. Nawaki made a face as though kissing was too gross for him.

"Baa-chan! Aren't you gonna introduce me?" Naruto asked, and Tsunade turned her head to the other side, smiling widely when she saw Naruto, the boy turned man that she had grown to care for like her little brother – perhaps more like her son. Yes, much more like her son.

"Naruto, this is my fiancé Dan, and my little brother Nawaki. Dan, Nawaki, this crazy ninja here is Naruto," Tsunade introduced, smiling.

"Ah man! Looks like you're Hokage too. Rokudaime, eh?" Nawaki said, looking awed and slightly jealous at the Hokage robes that Naruto wore, seeing the kanji for Rokudaime flashing down the back. Naruto grinned widely at Nawaki and nodded toward Dan.

"Nawaki, Dan," Naruto greeted fondly as he came towards Tsunade's group, clapping Dan's shoulder and then Nawaki's. Tsunade smiled even wider, tears streaming down her face in joy as she looked at the group surrounding her, feeling complete in her circle of people whom she loved more than life itself.

If only they were really there. But she didn't know that.

Shizune stood outside a door with a small window, observing the scene of Tsunade talking with people that were not there, her hand covering her mouth as she watched. Tsunade was wearing a white straightjacket, her hair frayed slightly to the side, sticking out from her blonde pigtails.

Her face looked different too. The jeweled looking cluster of chakra on her forehead was missing. Shizune had always known Tsunade to have the chakra concentrated there in the decorative form of a jewel. Its absence was strange for Shizune to see.

"Shizune-san?" a man in a white coat asked hesitantly, a clipboard held firmly in his hands. She turned to look at him, his overcoat stamped with the words "Konoha Insane Asylum" on the upper right part of his chest.

"Is she always like this?" Shizune asked, peering once more through the small window in the door in front of her, watching as Tsunade greeted people that were not there. Shizune felt guilty. She came to visit once every month, but she had stopped by unexpectedly. Seeing her in this state made Shizune wonder why Tsunade had seemed so much more coherent during the other times. Perhaps if she visited more often, she would have found out about this behavior sooner.

"Not always, no. She has her days where she seems more coherent than others. As you know, that concentration of chakra on her forehead had negative effects on her brain. It's such a shame that she decided to concentrate it there. That is why such chakra experimentation should be kept under strict supervision," the man said, watching as the patient began talking to the invisible person called Naruto about how his Hokage duties were going.

"Why is she in a straight jacket?" Shizune asked, seeing how the white coat was wrapped around her as though it embraced her in a hug. "Her chakra is drained daily, so why the need for the jacket?"

"Ah well, you see, she tends to reach out for the people that are not there. When that happens, she seems to lose it even more," the man said, shaking his head sadly. "When she realizes they're not there, she refuses to take her medication. The less medication she takes, the worse her mind gets."

Shizune merely nodded. She had diagnosed her former sensei after all. Tsunade had been brilliant – was still brilliant – but who knew that the little jewel on her forehead that stored chakra would eventually seep into her brain, addling her mind as much as it had?

If only she had thought to do a check up on Tsunade sooner, but who would have thought to do a mental evaluation from excessive access to concentrated chakra to the brain?

"We're doing our best to get her better," the man said, and Shizune nodded. "In another few months, these little episodes of meeting with her invisible people might stop. In a year or two, she may be safe for release."

"That's excellent news! I'll make sure to report it directly to Hokage-sama," Shizune said, grateful to hear that Tsunade wasn't completely lost to everyone yet.

* * *

"Why did I want to do this job again?" Naruto muttered. He was decidedly unhappy. His hand was cramped from signing papers all day, and he just wanted to go home and rest.

"Because you look extra sexy in your Hokage robes?" Sasuke asked. Naruto grinned as he turned toward the window, watching as Sasuke clad in ANBU gear removed his Hawk mask and sauntered toward Naruto.

"I remember now. It's 'cuz I can order people around, like you," Naruto said, his gaze looking Sasuke up and down. "Now move these papers off my desk so we can have sex on it."

"Sounds good to me," Sasuke breathed huskily, his hand reaching behind Naruto's head before leaning his mouth against Naruto's.

A knock at the door produced a growl from Naruto as he reluctantly pulled his lips from Sasuke's and turned toward the door, glaring at it and the person who dared to interrupt his moment with Sasuke.

"I could put them in a genjutsu and make them wait," Sasuke offered. Naruto paused, as though really considering the offer before shaking his head and sighing.

"Come in!" Naruto barked.

"Hokage-sama!" Shizune said breathlessly, stopping abruptly as she saw how close to and intimately positioned the two were standing. She caught herself staring, and continued. "I-I have the report on Tsunade-sama right here," Shizune explained as she lifted the documents the Insane Asylum worker had given to her. Naruto nodded, limping ever so slightly as he walked toward her.

Sasuke couldn't help but stifle a smirk as he watched Naruto's limp.

For the past year, Naruto had grown accustomed to having his right leg shorter than his left, and Sasuke knew for a fact that Naruto wasn't limping due to the offset of his leg. Sasuke knew for a fact that the limp was caused from their lunchtime activities when Sasuke had stopped by with a bit more pent up frustration than usual to let loose. Naruto had been so gracious as to help him get rid of his frustration, but he may have been just a tad bit overzealous. Even so, Naruto hadn't complained.

"Is your leg bothering you?" Shizune asked upon seeing Naruto's limp. Both Sasuke and Naruto blushed, and Shizune's mouth made a little round "o" of understanding as Naruto shook his head.

"Tsunade-baa-chan's getting better?" Naruto asked as he read over the report. Shizune nodded.

"She's been doing fairly well, though apparently she has a tendency to see people who aren't there. Today she was talking to my uncle Dan, Tsunade's fiancé, her little brother Nawaki, and you," Shizune explained. Naruto's eyes widened at the news while Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Me?" Naruto asked. Shizune nodded and sighed.

"Your invisible self told her that you'd saved Konoha twice in the past week," Shizune said, shaking her head.

"Not bad," Naruto said thoughtfully. "She remembers me pretty well," Naruto said, grinning widely.

"Naruto, this isn't funny. It sounds like she's getting worse to me, not better," Sasuke noted. Shizune turned to face him.

"These little episodes are still occurring, but they're happening less and less frequently," Shizune said, clearly trying to defend Tsunade-sama. Sasuke was about to say that before she had went into the Asylum she hadn't been seeing people that weren't there, but then quickly closed his mouth. He supposed seeing imaginary people was better than wanting to kill people.

"Thanks for the report, Shizune," Naruto said before Shizune and Sasuke could start bickering. Sasuke had never forgiven Shizune for telling Naruto that he'd been the one to kill Sakura. Naruto had a feeling his lover never would either. Shizune glared at Sasuke, before turning to give a slight tilt to the head in a parting bow to Naruto.

As she was halfway through the door, Naruto remembered something.

"Oi! Shizune!" Naruto called. Shizune turned to look back at Naruto. "There've been reports about traveling Konoha citizens going missing in Rock Country. I may need to send Sasuke away for a time," Naruto said, his face blushing slightly as Sasuke knew what Naruto was about to ask for next. "Can you prepare some of the tea for me in case he's got a long absence?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Shizune said as she nodded once, looked distastefully at Sasuke before leaving.

"I think if it were up to her, she'd make the tea all the time to help balance your chakra out instead of having me do it at all," Sasuke all but growled. Once Sakura's death had been made public, they had found that she had discovered an alternative method of dealing with Naruto's chakra imbalance, a solution that almost seemed silly compared to everything that Sasuke had done in what he thought was his only effort to keep Naruto alive.

"Yeah, but the idea of having to live off some stupid tea is so much less exciting than living off of your body," Naruto said lewdly, his eyebrows waggling up and down. Then he frowned slightly as he bit his lip. "Plus drinking all that tea makes me have to pee every hour," Naruto said, his face turned into a frown at the unpleasant side affect of drinking the large amount of tea necessary to balance his chakra. Sasuke chuckled lightly as he moved his hand to Naruto's chin and tilted the other man's face so he could capture his lips better.

Naruto's eyes fluttered shut as he waited for Sasuke's mouth to press against his softly. A tingling sensation went through his body at these tender kisses. The thrill of anticipation as he waited for Sasuke to kiss him, the gentleness and loving gesture making the kiss all the more sensual.

"Naruto?" Sasuke murmured against Naruto's lips.

"Hmm?" Naruto wondered back.

"I love you," Sasuke whispered.

"I love you too," Naruto murmured back.

"Good thing too because you're all mine."

**The End.**

* * *

Finally, this fic is finished. This story has been an emotional roller coaster ride for me for over a year now. I've loved it, and I've hated it. Your comments and reviews have made me feel excited and happy to sad and crushed. Even so, I got something great from this story. My best friend, lL0tus and I first met when she read this as a oneshot, and we've been close ever since. I actually traveled quite a distance to visit her this week. This story is for her as she was the one who kept encouraging me to turn it from a oneshot to a multi-chapter fic.

Now, in regards to this story, first of all, no, there will not be a sequel. Second of all, I will respond (eventually) to all reviews and comments made for this chapter as long as I have a way to get back to you. As I am a visitor, I don't have as much time. I promise I WILL get back to everyone that leaves me a way to get back to them. Lastly, this oneshot turned multi-chapter fic was inspired by another story that I'm currently posting called The Agreement. If you liked this fic, you may like that one as well.

Thank you to everyone who has left me a review on this story so far. I love reading them. I'm glad so many people seemed to have enjoyed it. :)

Please let me know what you thought of this story!

- Jelp


End file.
